


Not Defined By Blood (Jack Kline)

by NougatAntichrist



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel is Jack Kline's Parent, Cute Jack Kline, F/M, Jack Kline is Good, Jack Kline is happy, Post-Episode: s13e03 Patience, no spoilers past that episode, some slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-09-06 15:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20293396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NougatAntichrist/pseuds/NougatAntichrist
Summary: "A wise man once told me, 'family don't end in blood.' But it doesn't start there either. Family cares about you, not what you can do for them." ~Dean WinchesterWhat if Jack ran away after hearing the fight in S13E03 Patience?An alternate telling of the story of everyone's favorite nephilim, Jack Kline, where he runs away to live a semi-normal life with Jody, Claire, and Alex. But worry not, there is still hunting and a short, big-bad show down. And finally, a happy ending for (almost) everyone.





	1. Nephilim Lost

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after wondering why Jack would stay with the Winchesters. So instead Jack gets raised by Jody.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack hears the fight between the brothers and leaves

It had been a week since Kelly Kline died so her son could live. One week since Castiel died protecting his ward. One week since Mary was taken away by Lucifer. One week since the antichrist was born.

Jack knew that a week wasn’t a long time. He knew that it was nothing compared to the years, or maybe eons, he would live. But to him, the past week had felt like an eternity. An eternity of being told he was evil, of being blamed for three deaths he now believed he caused, and of Dean Winchester threatening, no, _promising_ to kill him.

Jack had lost his mother, his guardian, and his father all in one night. And now his new guardians, the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, couldn’t decide whether Jack was good like his mother Kelly, evil like his father Lucifer, or if he could be swayed one way or the other like his guardian Castiel. Dean was sure that Jack was evil and should be killed without hesitation. And Sam, being a bit more compassionate towards Jack’s situation, thought he could be trained. But Jack didn’t care if he was good or bad, angel or the new devil. All that mattered to him was that he felt so incredibly _alone_.

Jack had taken to secluding himself to his room in the bunker, because, while he felt lonely being cooped up all the time, he felt worse around the brothers. He feared Dean, partly due to the promise that Dean would kill him, and partly because he never knew what would send Dean into a shouting rage. And while Sam was a bit more compassionate, he still looked at Jack with a combination of fear, worry, disappointment, and pity. And Sam kept pushing him to open a portal when Jack couldn’t even move a pencil with his powers.

But still, with Sam, there was hope. Hope that maybe, someday, someone could love him again. And so Jack sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, one hand outstretched toward a lone pencil that laid on the floor in front of him, the mantra "move, move, move" chanting in his head as he desperately tried to get the stupid thing to move even a millimeter. Because maybe if he could do this one stupid, good thing, Sam would be proud. Maybe Dean would be able to forgive him. But after four hours of sitting and concentrating, nothing had happened.

Jack let his arm fall to his knee as he slumped forward a bit. "I can’t. I just can’t do it" he whispered to the empty room. Why couldn’t he just make it move. He had thrown people across rooms before and now a stick of wood was denying his request. Jack sat up straight as a new thought hit him: maybe he was doing this wrong. Maybe instead of asking the pencil to move, he should command it to bend to his will and obey him.

And so, he tried again. He stretched out his hand and commanded, "Move!" And to Jack’s excitement, the pencil rolled three feet away from him!

He had done it! He had to show Sam, had to make Sam proud of him. Jack jumped to his feet and scooped up the pencil as he ran out to the war room to show Sam what he could do. But as he rushed down the hallway, he heard the all too familiar sound of Sam and Dean fighting. He should turn back; he hated hearing how they talked about him. But morbid curiosity had him press his back to the wall, just around the corner from Dean where he could listen to the argument.

". . . I told him the truth." Dean was saying. "You see, you think you can use this _freak_. But I’ve seen how this ends, and it ends bad."

"I didn’t" replied Sam to Dean's confusion. "I didn’t end bad when I was the 'freak'. When I was drinking demon blood." This confused Jack. Sam did. . . what? Why? He would ask later.

"Oh, come on man that’s totally different" retorted Dean.

"Was it? Cuz you could have put a bullet in me. Dad _told_ you, to put a bullet in me. But you didn’t. You _saved_ me. So help me save _him_."

"You deserved to be saved. He doesn’t!" Jack’s heart dropped. Sam thought he needed saving. Dean thought he wasn’t worth the effort.

"Yes, he does, Dean. Of course he does" Sam pleaded.

Dean's tone turned low and threatening like it did when he was pissed and about to start yelling. "Look I know you think you can use him as some kind of, interdimensional can opener, and that’s fine. But don’t act like you care about him. Because you only care about what he can do for you. So if you wanna pretend, that’s fine. But me? I can hardly _look_ at the kid. Because when I do all I see is everyone we've lost"

"Mom chose to take that shot at Lucifer, that’s not on Jack!"

"And what about Cass?"

"What about Cass?"

Dean was all but yelling now. "He manipulated him. He made him promises. Said 'paradise on earth'. And Cass bought it. And you know what it got him? It got him _dead_!" Dean yelled "now you might be able to forget about that, _but I can’t_!"

Jack dropped the pencil that had brought him hope only minutes before. What if Dean was right. What if he _was_ evil? What if his mere existence warranted his death? And Sam, the man Jack was hoping would care for him, _didn’t_ care about him; he was only using him. No wonder Sam had been pressuring him so much to learn how to use his powers, and no wonder Sam always looked so upset and disappointed when Jack failed.

He couldn’t handle this. The pressure. The hatred. The fear. He was only one week old. He just wanted to feel his mother’s love again. But he couldn’t have that. And Castiel. . . Jack didn’t quite remember _what_ he had shown Castiel. So, what if Dean was right, and he had promised paradise just so that Castiel would care for him and protect him. He remembered how safe he felt when Castiel was near his mother; when he heard Castiel's voice. And right now, he needed that feeling back more than anything. He needed to feel safe.

"Castiel." Jack heard the word leave his mouth as a whispered plea for his protector back. But then he heard Dean moving and realized he needed to get out of Dean's line of fire. He ran as fast as he could down the hallway back towards his room. But with the tears now blurring his vision and how little time he spent out of his room, when Jack entered a room and closed the door behind him, he stood facing _Dean's_ bed. He had gone two doors past his own, straight where he didn’t want to be. He turned to leave but heard Deans footsteps growing closer.

This was bad. Jack needed to get out of here before Dean found him and inevitably got violent. Jack wiped the tears from his eyes and looked around for an escape. Nothing. Then Jack remembered the last time the brothers had fought about him, and he had somehow teleported away. Maybe he could do that now.

Jack glanced around the room again and his eyes rested on the picture displayed on Dean's desk. It showed a younger Sam and Dean, along with some older looking fellow standing in front of a bunch of rusting cars. That would do.

Jack heard the door handle behind him begin to turn as he concentrated on the image and his desperate need to be gone from the bunker. He heard the door creak open and braced himself for whatever Dean would yell at him, but the voice never came. Instead he heard the slight creaking of metal and felt his skin warm slightly. Jack opened his eyes to see a yard filled with rusted old cars and the burnt remains of a house at the center.

He had gotten away.


	2. In the Nile River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is found.

Relief washed over Jack as he stood in the sunlight. He had gotten away. Away from the fighting, the pressure, and the fear. This was the best he had felt since he had been born. The only downside of this was that the jump from the bunker to. . . wherever he was, combined with just how much stress he had been under, left him feeling exhausted. And he didn’t know where he was or what he was going to do for food or sleep. Maybe he should go back to his room and pretend like nothing had happened. Most likely the brothers hadn’t noticed his leaving yet. Another wave of exhaustion fell over him as he even _thought_ of trying to get back. He couldn’t sleep in this junkyard. He knew that much. And he wanted to know where he was.

He looked away from the burnt remains of a house, towards the sound of a car passing the yard. There was a two-lane highway passing by, which, if the last time he ran away from the Winchesters was anything to go by, meant if he followed it, he should eventually reach a town. He started toward the road and decided to go left. It didn’t really matter the direction, so long as he got somewhere. He glanced down at his feet, 'well at least I’m wearing clothes this time' he thought to himself as he set off towards, hopefully, a town.

~~~

Jack had been walking for thirty minutes when a passing truck slowed to a stop and a woman rolled down the window.

"Hey there!" she called to him.

Jack looked at her warily. After Asmodeus, he wasn’t sure who he could trust, but she just looked worried about him, and a little tired. "Hello" he responded cautiously.

"You heading to town? It’s about another hour’s walk. I could give you a lift if you like."

He figured he should refuse her offer. Sam and Dean had made it clear that heaven and hell _both_ wanted him, and this woman might be working for one or the other. But as he stood there, he started to feel just how tired his body had become, and how tired it would be after another hour. "Okay."

"Okay.” She smiled at him. “Hop in."

Jack walked over and climbed into the truck. The woman in the driver’s seat looked older than Sam and Dean, but not as old as Donatello. She had short brown hair with streaks of grey, and brown eyes that lit up a bit when she smiled. She was petite, yet she looked strong, and she wore the same style green jacket as Dean with jeans and boots.

"Name's Jody." She pulled a water bottle from a cooler behind her and handed it to him.

"Jack. My name is Jack." He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until he had downed half the bottle.

The woman, Jody, smiled at him and started driving. "So Jack, where you comin’ from?"

Jack wasn’t sure how to answer, or how much he should tell this woman. He decided on telling her the least information that still answered the question. "The burnt house with the yard full of cars."

"Bobby's scrapyard? What were you doing there?"

Well that had only brought more questions. And Jack wasn’t old enough, and didn’t know enough, to lie very well. So, the truth was his only option. "Running away."

"From. . . your family?"

"No" he said mater-of-factly, looking out the window, "my family, they're. . . gone."

"Oh, I’m sorry." She paused for a moment, expecting some explanation that never came. "Well, what are you running from?"

"I guess," he paused looking at her "everything."

"Do you know where you're running to?"

"Not really. Just. . . away."

They drove in silence for a few minutes. Looking back out the window, Jack noticed they were getting closer to town. He could see houses, shops, and even a small park. The sun was now nearing the horizon. He didn’t know where he intended to go, but he needed to figure out food and sleep for the night.

As if Jody somehow knew what Jack was thinking she said, "Well, I have two girls at home so I’m already cooking a feast tonight. When was the last time you had a home cooked meal?"

Jack thought a moment before replying, "never." The word made Jody sad for a moment.

"Well then tonight will be your first. You can tell me about yourself and we can figure everything out from there."

He thought about this for a moment. He didn’t want to tell anyone too much about himself, but he really didn’t have any other plan. "That sounds. . . nice. Thank you"

"Alright" she said kindly. "We'll stop by a store. What would you like to eat?"

"I’m. . . not sure. I guess, burgers or sandwiches?" That’s all he’d ever had.

“I was thinking turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy. How does that sound?”

Jack smiled at the thought of trying food that didn’t come from a gas and sip. “Great” he said as she parked the car in front of a quaint little store.

~~~

Jack helped Jody load the bags of food into the car. "This place is nice" he observed. "It doesn’t smell like. . . gasoline and smoke."

"I take it you ate at gas and sips a lot, huh?" sadness touching the tone of her voice as she climbed into the truck.

Jack climbed into the passenger seat. "Yeah, but only the cheap food." Dean had made a point to Sam that he wouldn’t be spending more than he had to on the boy. The night Jack had met Donatello, Sam had brought burgers and beer to the hotel, which had been the nicest meal Jack had ever eaten.

~~~

Jody drove them to her home while telling Jack her funniest gas and sip stories, most of which Jack didn’t fully understand, but they made him laugh anyway. As they pulled into the driveway, the sight of the two other cars there evoked a sigh from Jody. "Fair warning" she said as they got out to grab the bags, "my girls can be a bit. . . much. Especially Claire. But they are nice when you get to know them. In their own way" she added as an afterthought. Jack nodded, just grateful he had decided to trust this woman, and that she had proven to be kind.

They split the bags between them and headed into the house. It was nice. Smaller than the bunker, yet larger than the lake house he was born in. And more welcoming and cozier than either.

"Girls?" Jody called. "I’m back, and there's someone I’d like you to meet!"

A brunette walked into the living room with her arms across her chest, wearing all pale blue nurse scrubs. She looked nice, if not a bit closed off. After her walked in a shorter blonde wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and way too much eyeliner. She leaned against a nearby wall, loudly chewing the gum in her mouth. 'That one is probably Claire', Jack thought to himself.

"Who's this guy? Some lost puppy?" Sneered the blonde. Jody sighed as if the blonde was always this way and it irritated her a bit.

Before Jody could reprimand the blonde at all, Jack said, slightly confused, "I’m. . . not a puppy, I’m Jack."

"Jack," Jody began before the blonde could say something else snappy, "this is Alex" the brunette waved slightly, "and Claire." The blonde just kind of grunted.

"So what," Claire said to Jody, "you go out on a hunt and bring back the first orphaned kid you find? Please tell me this isn’t turning into a hunter orphanage." Out on a hunt? Jack felt the fear he’d been running from resurface. Did Jack manage to get picked up by and brought to a house of _hunters_? What if they knew Sam and Dean? What if they found out what he was?

"I found him walking from Bobby Singers place. He’s gonna stay with us for a bit" Jody responded as she walked into the kitchen with her bags, motioning for Jack to follow.

Claire grunted again.

"Don’t worry about her" Alex told Jack. She must have seen the worry on his face. "She’s just territorial. Kinda like an animal." Alex said the last part pointedly at Claire. Jack guessed they didn’t get along too well.

He moved to the kitchen with Jody and he hoped he was just being paranoid about them knowing the Winchesters.

~~~

Jack tried to help Jody get the meal prepared, but he kept worrying about what would happen if Sam and Dean found him. Jody had him setting the table when her phone rang. She answered, "hey Sam." Jack’s heart dropped. He wasn’t being paranoid. She knew the scrapyard he had teleported to that he saw in the picture Dean had. Of _course_ she knew them. Hunters in the same place Sam and Dean had been before. Of course. He was so stupid.

Jack couldn’t stop himself from turning to face Jody, with terror evident on his face. She was listening to the phone while watching Jack, confused as to why he has gone sheet white. Then as she kept listening, the realization seemed hit her. "Yeah. Okay, I'll um. . . keep an eye out. Of course. You too." Then she hung up.

She reached out and gently laid her hand on Jack’s shoulder. "Hey, let’s talk." She said as she guided Jack out of the kitchen. "Hey Claire!" she called out, "finish setting the table."

"I thought that was New Kid’s job" retorted Claire.

"Please."

"Fiiiine" Claire said in a huff.

Jody took Jack to a bedroom and closed the door. He was terrified. Would she take him back? Was she going to kill him? Would he accidentally kill her? That last thought filled him with even more terror. He didn’t want to hurt her; she had been kind to him.

Jody sat on the bed and motioned for Jack to sit next to her. He reluctantly obeyed.

"So. You're running away from Sam and Dean? You want to tell me why?"

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat and said in a hoarse whisper, "because they want to kill me."

This seemed to shock Jody. "Okay, and why would they want to kill you?"

Jack was feeling overwhelmed again. And he felt his eyes welling up. "If I tell you," he responded, voice now quivering slightly, "you'll want to kill me too."

"No, I won’t, Jack. I want to help you. I promise. But I need to know why they're looking for you."

It didn’t matter anymore. If she wanted to know, she could just make a phone call and ask. And he could always try and teleport away again, though it would be difficult with how tired he was. He took a deep breath. "It’s because. . . I’m evil."

"I don’t believe that for a second." Jack looked at her, confused. "Jack, I’ve seen a lot of bad in this world. A lot of evil. Enough to know it when I see it. And you, are nothing but good."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Now, why do you _think_ you're evil?"

He knew once he said it, she would take it all back. She would send him back to them. But she had been kind. . . maybe there was a chance. . .

Jack looked at the floor and took a deep breath again. "I’m. . . a nephilim. My mother was human, and my father. . . is an archangel." He looked up at Jody. "My father. . . is Lucifer."

Jody’s eyes widened and she looked away from Jack, took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Well, that would explain why they’re looking for you."

"I don’t. . ." Jack’s brow furrowed. "I don’t want to be like my father. Everyone seems. . . terrified of him. Because he hurts people." Jack paused and met Jody's gaze. "I’ve hurt people before. I. . . I didn’t want to. And every time I did, I felt. . . awful. But what if I can’t stop hurting people?"

"Jack, you are _not_ your father. I don’t think the devil would have helped me take in the groceries from the truck." This was clearly meant to make Jack feel better, and it did. . . a little. But why was she taking this so well? He was the _antichrist_. Spawn of the devil himself. And she was. . . almost calm.

"You're. . . not afraid of me?"

"I told you, I just want to help.” She pulled him in to hug him, as if to prove it. “But I am confused. Are you. . . Kelly Kline's son? Because that would make you. . ."

"One week old" he finished for her.

"Wow." She looked him over like she didn’t believe what she was seeing. "I won’t tell them where you are. And you can stay as long as you like. On one condition."

Jack arched his eyebrows nervously. He could barely move a pencil with his mind. What if she wanted to use him like Sam did? "What?"

She smiled at him. "You have to help me cook."


	3. In the Garden of Eden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Slight self-harm (not related to mental health). Jack just needs to ward himself.  
Also Jack gets the sex talk (Not very graphic, its mostly just his reactions)

Jack sat through dinner quietly, due to his apprehension to say anything that might make Jody send him away. But as Alex, Claire, and Jody were recounting their stories of hunting (and nursing in Alex's case), Jack started to feel more comfortable. He was enjoying watching the two girls bicker and joke with each other. While he originally thought the two disliked each other, it was becoming clear that this was just how they interacted, and they did genuinely care for one another. Not to mention, the food was incredible; quite literally the best he food he had ever eaten.

The bickering and stories lulled for a moment and Claire spoke up.

"I like this one" she declared about Jack. "He’s not loud and obnoxious, like _some_ people." She looked pointedly at Alex.

"At least _he_ has manners" retorted Alex. She turned to Jack. "How long are you staying with us?"

Jack looked over at Jody. "I. . . don’t know."

"Yeah well, where’s he gonna sleep?" asked Claire snarkily.

Before Jody could answer, Jack said, "I can sleep on the couch. I don’t sleep much"

"And when you're out hunting, he'll be staying in your room" Jody informed Claire.

"_Jody_."

"What? Your hunting trips sometimes go on for weeks."

"Fiiiine.” Claire looked at Jack. “But don’t mess with my stuff.”

~~~

That evening, Jody set the couch up for Jack. He thanked her and sat sideways on the couch, leaning back on a pillow propped against the arm rest, with his legs up on the couch. Jody and Alex headed to bed, while Claire was sitting in the love chair watching something on the tv. He studied her. Earlier she had looked threatening and angry, but now, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and cartoons on the tv, she just looked content.

"What? I’m not turning it off until my show is done" she told him.

"That’s fine. I was just thinking."

"Do you _need_ to stare at me to think?" Her tone turned hostile.

"Sorry." He slid down so his head rested on the pillow and he pulled a blanket up over himself. He laid his arms over his chest and closed his eyes to sleep, trying to ignore the sounds of the cartoon.

After a minute Claire spoke up. "You’re kinda strange, aren’t you?

Jack opened his eyes to look at her. "I guess."

"So what’s your story?"

Clearly, Jody hadn’t told them yet, and Jack wasn’t about to tell this girl he just met the full truth about himself. "My mother died when I was born. And my father. . . he’s. . . gone."

"What happened to him?"

Jack wasn’t sure how to answer. "He’s. . . locked away. Or. . . maybe he’s dead. I’m not sure."

"Oh."

"What about you? What’s your story?"

Claire was clearly agitated by the question, but she proceeded anyway. "My father got taken away. He was possessed by an angel, who got him killed. And my mom, well, after my dad was taken, she dropped me off at my grandma's so she could go out and look for him. She was fed on and killed by another angel."

Jack looked away from her. "I’m sorry."

While he wasn’t looking Claire wiped away the tears that had started to form. "Yeah, well, its whatever. Jody's nice."

"She is."

Claire clearly didn’t want to talk anymore, so Jacked rolled over to face away from her and tried to sleep.

~~~

Jack woke after five hours. The last day had taken a toll on him because he usually only needed three. Glancing out the window, he saw it was still dark. He looked over to the love chair where Claire had been when he had fallen asleep. She was still there, asleep, with the light from the tv dancing over her. Whatever program it was had occasional loud noises, which made her stir slightly. Jack got up and turned it off so it wouldn’t bother her.

He sat back down on the couch, leaning against the arm rest with his legs crossed in front of him, and his wrists resting on his knees. He looked out the window and let his thoughts wander. From thoughts of his mother, to Castiel, to Sam and Dean, and to his destiny. Again, he wondered how he could be good with all the people he had hurt. He remembered every one of them. His mother, Sam, Dean, that tattoo artist. . . wait. Sam and Dean had brought him to that guy so he could get warded. So people couldn’t find him. . . which meant without those tattoos, people could still find him. Sam and Dean could find him.

He remembered the pain of getting the tattoos. He remembered when it had been over, but his skin had still hurt. Then there had been a warmth in his chest that made the pain lessen, so he had welcomed the feeling and the tattoos had vanished. He had accidentally healed himself. So maybe he could stop it, so he healed like a human, and the tattoos would stay, he hypothesized. But he had to test it before he tried anything.

Jack got up and walked to the kitchen to find Jody's scissors. Once he quietly retrieved them, he opened the blades and pulled one across the back of his forearm. He didn’t let it cut too deep. He put down the scissors and saw a bit of blood, no more than if he had a papercut. Then Jack felt the warmth in his arm. He tried to push the feeling away, and it worked. The cut was still there after five minutes of staring at it, and the warm feeling hadn’t come back. He figured he should see if he could leave it for an hour and it still be there. So, he went back to sit on the couch and let himself get lost in his thoughts again.

An hour later, sure enough, it was still there. Now to see if he could still heal. Wait. . . what if he got hurt and needed to heal himself, but needed the warding to stay? He got up and got the scissors again and made another small cut about an inch away from the first. The warm feeling came, and he focused it on just the new cut. He wanted the old one to stay, for now. It worked: the new cut was gone and the old one remained. So, he let the old one heal. His experiment was a success.

He quietly cleaned the scissors and put them away. He would talk to Jody about warding him when she woke up. For now, he would sit and watch the sunrise.

~~~

It had been about two hours when Claire began to stir. He looked over to make sure something wasn’t waking her up before she wanted to, and when he saw that she was fine, he turned back to the window. At some point it had started raining and he was just watching as the raindrops rolled down the window. It was peaceful, and it let him think.

He heard Claire yawn and stretch as she woke up. "What are you doing up already?" she asked him, her voice still hoarse from sleep.

"I’ve been up for a while. I don’t sleep much" Jack said, still watching the rain.

"And you’ve just been. . . staring out the window the whole time?"

Jack looked over at her "Well, I also turned off the tv" he said plainly.

"You are so weird." She got up and walked towards the kitchen but stopped and turned around before entering. "Um. . . Jody won’t be up for another hour. If you want breakfast, we have cereal." Then she turned back around and entered the kitchen.

Jack _was_ starting to feel hungry, so he got up and followed her. She already had the milk and cereal box out, along with a bowl and spoon for herself. Without looking at him she pointed to one of the cupboards. "Up there." He walked over and got a bowl, then Claire pointed to a drawer, from which he got a spoon. She might be cold, but she could still be kind, in her own way.

Jack poured the milk into the bowl and then poured the cereal in. Claire looked at him like he had just physically hurt her. "_So_ weird." She seemed to like calling him that. But this time he didn’t understand what he had done wrong, so he just gave her a confused look. Which she ignored in favor of looking at her phone.

He glanced at it to see what she was doing, and he saw that she had pulled up a police scanner, like the one Sam was always looking at. "Are you looking for a hunting case?" he asked.

She grunted an affirmative.

"But. . . most people don’t know about monsters, so how do you find where the monsters are?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well it’s not like they're gonna say 'vampire in Baton Rouge'. You look for something like, 'man had his throat ripped out and blood drained'."

"Oh. And that would mean, vampire?"

“Mhmm.”

Jack had always been curious about the monsters Sam and Dean hunted, but he never had the chance to ask them about it. Maybe Claire would teach him about monsters. “What other kinds of monsters are there?”

“Lots. Shifters, vampires, werewolves, angels, and demons are the common ones.”

“So, you and Jody kill them?”

“Yup. Now shush! I’m reading.”

~~~

Once Claire had finished eating, she retreated to her room and left Jack to clean up. He had just finished when Jody walked in.

“Good morning, Jack.”

“Good morning.” No one else was in the room so he figured it was safe to ask Jody about the whole warding him thing. “Jody? When Sam and Dean found me, they tried to ward me so I couldn’t be found. But it didn’t work, so. . . could Sam and Dean still find me? I don’t. . . want to bring you trouble.”

She smiled at him. “Don’t worry Jack. Last time Sam and Dean were here, I had them ward the house to protect my girls. So, you should be safe. But it might be a good idea to put up some extra warding. Just in case.”

"Okay."

~~~

Jody had to leave for work, but before she did, she gave Jack a laptop and showed him how to use it, so that he could learn more about the world. So, Jack spent his day learning about all the problems in the world like the violence, hunger, sickness, and monsters that plagued humans. He found information on his father Lucifer, as well as the other angels. He learned about the atrocities his father had committed, and the suffering he had brought into the world. Jack once again swore to never be like his father.

But, while the internet holds a vast amount of knowledge, it also holds a vast amount of cat videos, memes, and porn. All of which Jack stumbled upon as well. He enjoyed the cats, didn’t understand the memes, and was slightly confused and disgusted at the porn.

He was watching more cat videos when Claire finally resurfaced from her room.

"I take it you like cats" she said as she started making more cereal for herself.

"They're cute. Did you find a monster case?"

"Yeah. Guy with a missing heart two towns over."

Jack had read the basics of monsters and was certain when he said, "ah! And that means vampire."

Claire looked at him like he was an idiot. "No, dumbass. Werewolf."

"Oh." So maybe the internet wasn’t _always_ right. "How do you. . . kill it?"

"Silver blade or bullet to the heart." She seemed proud of herself.

"I see."

"You’re new to the whole monster thing, aren’t you?"

"I’m new at. . . everything."

She looked at him, confused. "Everything?"

"Yeah." He didn’t realize that she wanted an explanation as to what he meant.

"Well okay, mystery man. I’m heading out in the morning. You have fun with your cats, I’m gonna watch some _Orange is the New Black_."

"What’s. . . _Orange is the New Black_?"

"You’ve _never_ seen _Orange is the New Black_?"

He timidly shook his head.

"Come with me."

~~~

"How do you not know _anything_?" Claire was annoyed that Jack kept asking her questions. They were barely through the first episode and Jack had already asked what seemed like a million questions. Things like "What’s a drug mule? Why are there only girls in the prison? Why are they naked? Why is she putting her head between the other’s legs?"

Claire paused it when Jack asked that last question. "Jack have. . . do you know what sex is?" She looked completely shocked.

"Vaguely. . . the computer showed me a video of two men in very little clothing. . ." What’s the right word? ". . .rubbing their penises."

That had been an. . . interesting video, with one man wearing wings and the other wearing red horns on his head and holding a red pitchfork. Jack had been extremely confused. Because his never looked like theirs. And these women on the television confused him as well. He knew that women had breasts, but he thought they would have also had penises like he did. Overall, whatever sex is, it seems incredibly complex.

"You watched gay _porn_ on _Jody’s_ laptop?" Claire was incredulous at this point.

"It said 'angel and demon getting along'." He shrugged. "I wanted to learn more about monsters."

Claire tilted her head back to look at the ceiling in despair, sighing heavily. She looked back at him, smiling just a bit. "Jack that’s called masturbating. Or. . . jacking off." She giggled a little. "Have you never. . ." she trailed off hoping he would understand the implied question.

"Um. . . no?" Jack was curious now. "Why were they doing it? They looked like they were. . . in pain."

"Oh my god." She shook her head at the ceiling, then looked back. "Jack, have you never been given _The Sex Talk_?" He shook his head. "You are so strange. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were born last week."

Hastily Jack replied, "I, I wasn’t! I’m. . . 20?" He didn’t mean for that to come out as a question, but he honestly didn’t know how old he looked.

She looked at him like he was insane. "You don’t know your own age?"

"I. . . just forgot. For a second. Now about the sex. . ." He leaned towards her curious and completely oblivious to how taboo this topic can be to humans.

She giggled at him. "Okay okay. Fine."

~~~

"So. . . gay sex is two men. And lesbian sex. . . is two women. And people don’t like gay people?" He was even more confused after she had explained this.

"Well _some_ people don’t like gay people. They think it’s wrong or something."

"But if they both want to. . . then shouldn’t that be okay?"

"It is. Some people are just mean. I’m really shocked you don’t know this."

He shrugged again. "Can a man and a woman have sex?"

"Yes. That’s what is considered 'normal' in most places. No one really cares if people are having that kind of sex. Although that is the type that can get a woman pregnant. And that’s all I’m teaching you. If you want to know more, google it."

"Have you done it?" Claire looked uncomfortable at the question. Jack didn’t understand this was taboo to ask someone he met yesterday.

"Um. . . once."

"And its. . . fun?"

"It wasn’t for me. The guy didn’t know what he was doing."

"I see."

At that moment the front door opened, and Jody walked in. Claire was clearly relieved.

"Jody, can you believe no one gave Jack _The Talk_?"

Jody looked up at the tv, where the two women from _Orange is the New Black_ were paused in the middle of their. . . fun. "Yeah. I see you’ve been teaching him."

"Human sexuality, it’s very. . . complex" Jack declared.

"He’s like an alien. He doesn’t know anything." At least his ignorance was amusing to Claire.

"Well I’m glad you two are getting along.” Jody smiled at them. “Jack come with me. I’m gonna teach you how to cook."

~~~

After Claire and Jody had gone to bed (Alex was staying over at a friend’s house), Jack sat on the couch with a pen and paper. He was drawing those symbols that Sam and Dean had tried to get tattooed on him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but somehow, he felt, he needed to ward himself with them. (The house was warded, sure, but what if he wanted to leave the house?) His best idea so far was to try and use his powers to burn them into his skin. Maybe if he did it with his powers, he wouldn’t have to stop himself from healing.

So, once he had finished, he pulled off his t-shirt (Jody had kindly given him some of her husband’s old clothes) and looked at the images he had drawn, then down to his chest. He wasn’t sure what to do exactly, but he might as well try. He focused on the symbols and pressed his hand against his chest, visualizing the images being burned into the skin under his hand. He felt his hand warm up, along with his chest. Then it started to feel too hot, but he kept going. His chest was now burning, and he felt the pain of it continuously increasing. He gritted his teeth and pulled his hand away slightly to see if it was working how he hoped. It was, but he needed to keep going a bit longer. He hissed a breath between his teeth as the pain got really bad, then he stopped. Looking down, he saw both symbols, the pentagram with a surrounding flame was on the upper right of his chest, a few inches below his collar bone, and the circle with a triangle and what looked like a weird letter was centered over his breastbone.

He didn’t feel the warmth of his healing ability in his chest, so it seemed like he could either control that now, or his body knew he wanted to do this. Either way, he was going to make sure it stayed before he got his three hours of sleep tonight. So, he got out Jody’s laptop and started to search for more monster information. Werewolves, in particular. He wanted to be of some use to Jody and Claire, other than cooking, so maybe he could help them hunt. But to do that, he needed to do his homework.

After several hours of google searches, his new scars had still been present, so Jack had gone to sleep. He hoped that he would wake up before Claire left, so that he could make sure his werewolf knowledge was correct this time.


	4. A Wayward Sister’s Unicorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Claire and Jack being cute and happy.
> 
> "One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel" ~ Steven Moffat

Claire had been out for three days on her werewolf hunt. While she was gone, Jack had been pestering Jody with questions about monsters. He wanted to be able to help Claire on her hunts, despite Jody’s insistence that he shouldn’t, in case he ran into a hunter that knew Sam and Dean. Jack promised that he would be careful if he ever did go out, which didn’t seem to comfort her too much.

But, the longer Claire was away, the more worried Jody got, and the more worried he got. What if she was hurt? What if she didn’t come home? She was nice to him, and he already cared about her. He wanted to make sure she was safe, and the best way to do that would be to go along with her.

In the late afternoon of day four, Jack was sitting on the couch, reading a book Jody had given him about angels and their spawn. She said that it might be a good idea for him to learn about himself and his angel family. Unfortunately, the book didn’t have any information on arch-nephilims, but he read it anyways. He was reading about archangels when the front door opened and Claire walked in, covered in blood and looking exhausted.

He put the book down and stood up. “Claire! Are you okay?” He wasn’t sure who’s blood she was covered in, but at least she was here and alive.

“Jack, I _can_ handle two werewolves.” She dropped her bag of weapons on the floor, then pulled her shirt up to her nose to sniff it. “Ugh, I need a shower” she said, then walked off towards the bathroom. Great. She was annoyed with him again. At least she was okay.

Jack stood looking after her for a minute, then sat back down to resume reading his book. He could hear the music she was blaring from where he sat, and if he really listened, he could hear the faint sounds of her singing along.

About twenty minutes later, Claire walked back into the living room with a new set of clothes on and a rag in hand. She retrieved her bag of weapons and sat on the couch next to Jack. She pulled out a handgun, a silver knife, and an angel blade, all covered in blood, and began cleaning them.

Jack put down his book. “How was your hunt?”

“Fine? What do you care?” Her tone was hostile again.

Jack didn’t know what it was about him that annoyed her so much. He was just trying to be kind to her and get to know her more. Maybe he should just give up and leave her be, although he really didn’t like that idea. She didn’t want him dead, like Dean, so at least he didn’t have to fear her. So, Jack decided to leave her to her weapons cleaning. He mumbled a “Sorry” as he got up with his book and headed towards the kitchen.

Behind him he heard Claire sigh. “Wait.” Jack stopped and turned to face her. She was looking down at her angel blade as she said, “I’m. . . sorry. I’m just tired after everything. You don’t have to leave.”

Jack looked down at his feet. “I don’t want to annoy you” he said hesitantly.

“It’s fine. I just. . .” She paused like she was considering what she wanted to say. “Just, get your ass back over here.”

Jack felt he would never understand humans, especially Claire. But, he obeyed and sat next to her. She turned on the tv and brought up _Orange is the New Black_, then continued her cleaning. Jack watched it with her, trying to refrain from asking questions and annoying her, but, after ten minutes, he was so confused he gave in. Claire looked a tad amused at his questions, likely thinking about how strange he was.

~~~

After two episodes, Claire had finished cleaning and putting away her weapons. Jack was still asking constant questions, and he wasn’t sure he even liked this show, but he did like spending time with her. He knew that much.

There was a lull in his questions after a while, and Claire rested her head on his shoulder. He looked at her and noticed how tired she looked. “Do you. . .”

His question was interrupted by her shushing him.

“You’re tired.” He stated.

“Mhmm.” She looked half asleep at this point. He really should make her go to bed; who knows how much she slept while on her hunt. And humans needed something like eight hours a night.

He felt her trying to move her arms around his torso, so he put his arm around her shoulder so that she could. Then he moved so he was leaning back on the arm rest and she was half laying on him. He pulled down a blanket that he kept over the top of the couch and laid it on top of her, so that she wouldn’t get cold.

The tv was still on and he didn’t want it to wake her back up, so he reached out the hand that wasn’t around her shoulder and used his powers to turn it off. He looked down at her laying on his chest. She looked peaceful and almost. . . happy. He smiled and gently pet her hair. Looking out the window, he noticed Jody’s police truck pull into the driveway. She would be relieved to see that Claire was safe.

The door opened and Jack turned around and put his index finger to his lips. Jody looked confused and then saw Claire, asleep on Jack’s chest. She smiled and whispered, “I take it she’s okay?”

Jack nodded. “Just tired” he whispered back.

“Did she eat?”

“I. . . don’t think so.”

“I’ll make something and leave it in the fridge for her.”

“Thank you, Jody.”

~~~

Jack woke up to someone shaking him slightly. He yawned and rubbed his eyes before opening them to see Claire looking at him. “What?”

“It’s morning sleepy-head” she replied.

“Oh.” He looked out the window to see the sun was shining. Last he remembered, it was just past midnight and he had been watching muted cartoons on the tv. Some show with a silly dog and four humans and monsters that were actually people.

“Come on, Jody and I want to talk to you.” Jack was worried now. Were they sending him away? Had he done something wrong? He liked it here with them and he didn’t want to leave them.

He followed her into the kitchen where Jody was making eggs and bacon for them. “What’s up?” he asked nervously.

“Jody tells me you have been researching monsters and you want to come hunting with me.” Jack couldn’t read the expression on Claire’s face, and he wasn’t sure how she felt about this.

“Um. . . yeah?”

Jody smiled at him. “Well if you want to fight monsters, Jack, you need to know how to fight.”

“Me and Jody are gonna teach you after she gets home from work tonight.” Claire was now also smiling.

Jack’s face lit up. “Really? Thank you!” He was going to be a hunter!

“Yeah but I’m taking you clothes shopping first. Those don’t fit you all that well.” Claire looked him up and down, disapproving.

She was right: the shirt was at least a size too big and he had to roll up the jeans so he wouldn’t step on them constantly. He really didn’t care what he wore, so long as he was safe and happy. But he wasn’t going to say no to more time with Claire.

“Alright.”

~~~

“My god, you have _no_ sense of style, do you?”

Jack had picked out a pair of red jeans, a blue jean jacket, and a green t-shirt. She was right of course: he had _no_ idea what he was doing.

“Have you _never_ dressed yourself before?” Claire asked, amused at how inept he was.

“Not, really” he said helplessly.

“Let’s put those back.”

She took his hand and dragged him to another store in the mall. This one was dimly lit with blaring, angry-sounding music. It mostly had dark clothing with skulls or pentagrams on them. Judging by how many leather jackets present in the store, and how many Claire wore, he figured this was where a good portion of her clothes were from. Most of the patrons here sported the way-too-much-eyeliner look with plenty of tattoos, piercings, and black leather. One was wearing a t-shirt with a horned skull that read ‘Hail Lucifer’, so Jack wasn’t sure how comfortable he was with this.

But, Claire started leading him around the store. She was taking different items off the racks and holding them up to see how they would look on him. After a few minutes, she led him to the back of the store where the fitting rooms were and handed him some of the clothes she had picked out, saying, “here try these on.”

She had given him a plain white t-shirt, black jeans, a leather jacket, and a pair of black and white shoes that read ‘Converse’. He put them on and walked out to show her.

“Well?”

She smiled. “I like it. Wait.” She ruffled her hand through his hair to mess it up a bit, then smiled.

He wasn’t sure if he liked the look, but she was happy, so he just smiled.

“Okay put your clothes back on and we’ll get those.”

When he came back out, she had a few more of the t-shirts and jeans in her arms. They bought them and left to find another store.

~~~

Claire had clearly enjoyed dressing him up. He now also had some basic blue jeans, a tan jacket, and some hoodies. Now, they were just wandering around the mall and she was showing him her favorite stores.

“Oh! This place has the best ice cream ever!” She pulled him inside. “I really like the chocolate, but pretty much everything is great.”

“Then I’ll have chocolate too.” He had never had ice cream, so he was excited to try.

They ordered and sat down in a booth. She was right, of course: it was amazing.

“So, I’ve been showing you my favorite things here, now you have to tell me more about yourself” she declared.

“What do you mean?” He knew what she meant. But he couldn’t tell her who, or _what_, he was, and there really wasn’t much else to tell. The world was still new to him.

“Come on! Like. . . where are you from? Did you go to school? Have you ever dated? Any hobbies? _Tell_ me about yourself.”

Oh boy, this wasn’t good. He didn’t want her to hate him like Dean had, or use him like Sam. He just wanted to be human. He wanted to be normal. So he would have to tell enough of the truth to keep her satisfied, without telling her everything.

“Well, I was born in North Cove, Washington. My mother died and my father. . . he was locked away. I was. . . taken in by two men, and we moved around a lot. I didn’t go to school, and I’ve not met many people. . .” He paused, thinking for a moment. “What’s. . . dating?”

She tilted her head and squinted her eyes at him. “Jack. . .? How are you so. . . how do you not know anything?”

“I was. . . sheltered.” Well, it was accurate. . .

Claire sighed. “Dating is when two people really like each other. They like spending time together, they like the same things, and usually they find each other attractive.”

“Is that where the sex happens?”

Claire laughed at that. “Sometimes.”

“I see.”

She chucked again and checked her phone. “It’s getting late. Jody will be home in an hour, so we need to get back. I want to see how bad you are at fighting.”

~~~

He was terrible at fighting. Jody was trying to teach him how to defend himself, but he kept getting hit. He was fine, of course, except for his pride, since Claire was off to the side watching and laughing at how bad he was.

“Well, until you can keep from getting hit constantly, you’re not coming with me on any hunt” she said after Jody knocked him to the ground.

“Don’t worry Jack, it just takes practice.” Jody said smiling at him. She put her arm around his shoulders. “Come on. We’ll practice again tomorrow. Now go get cleaned up so you can help me with dinner.”

~~~

Claire and Jack were sitting on the couch watching their show, as was becoming tradition, it seemed, when she asked him, “Jack? Why do you want to go hunting with me so much?”

Jack shrugged. “I got worried about you and I want to help. Also, I missed you.”

Her only response was resting her head on his shoulder. He couldn’t see it, but she was smiling.


	5. Rather be the Hunter than the Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Claire go on a hunt

Jack was dodging punches left and right, and even managing to land a few. Not too hard, since he didn’t want to hurt Jody. They were sparing in her backyard, and over the past month, he had gotten a lot better at this. Claire was, again, on a hunt (ghoul this time), and he really wanted to join her on the next one. Last week, she had come home with a stab wound. Jody had stitched it up, and Jack had gradually healed her over three days when she slept. She still didn’t understand how she healed so fast, but he wasn’t about to tell her. All things angel seemed to be a trigger point for her to get angry with him, and he figured telling her ‘Hi I’m the son of Lucifer’ would probably piss her off.

Jack and Jody finished practicing for the day when he heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. “She’s back!” he smiled and ran off to welcome her back home.

She was getting her bag out of the trunk when he walked up to her. “You’re a mess” she said smiling at him.

He looked down at his shirt. She was right, he was covered in dirt and sweat. He looked back at her in her ghoul-covered clothes. “You’re bloody” he said smiling back, then wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back, and he was glad she was safe.

Jody had walked up behind him. “Okay, Jack. My turn.” She hugged Claire and they all walked into the house. “Jack go shower so you can help me make dinner.”

~~~

“He’s getting a lot better.” Jody smiled at Jack as she told Claire about his progress.

“Better enough to not get himself killed?”

Both Jack and Jody knew that he wouldn’t get killed. If an angel blade couldn’t hurt him, a monster probably wouldn’t do much harm. But still, it’s best if he already knew how to fight and kill things.

“I think so” she told Claire.

“Alright. Next hunt, you can tag along.”

Jack smiled. Finally! He could be useful, as well as be there if anything happened. He felt so proud of himself. And on top of learning how to hunt, he had a home. Jody was always kind and teaching him new things. When Claire was out, they would watch movies together after dinner, and she would tell him about her day at work, and stories about sheriffing. She loved him. Alex had moved in with her new boyfriend, but still came by to visit Jody. She and Jack didn’t speak much, but she was nice to him when they did. And he and Claire were hitting it off. While she would still sass him all the time, she didn’t get annoyed with him as much. It helped that he knew when to leave her be, and when to just be quiet. This was home.

When they finished eating and cleaning up, Jody decided it was movie night for the three of them. “I’m thinking romance. What about you two?”

Claire whined, “Ugh I hate romance movies. They are so boring. Let’s watch an action movie!” She looked at Jack for a second vote.

He shrugged, “Whatever you guys want.”

“Ok! Romance/action then.” Jody picked up the remote and sat in the love chair, leaving the couch for him and Claire.

“Fine.” Claire and Jack sat down on the couch.

“You’ll like it. Its about an angel and a demon falling in love during a war between heaven and hell.”

“As long as there’s fight scenes I’ll be happy.” Claire lifted his arm around her shoulder and snaked one of her arms behind his back.

Jody smiled at the two of them, then started the movie.

~~~

The movie ended and Claire left to get ready for bed. Jody looked at him and asked, “Jack, do you like Claire?”

“Yeah. She’s nice.”

“You know she’s flirting with you, right?”

Jack tilted his head and his brow furrowed. He didn’t know. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, how do you feel about her?”

Jack thought a moment. “I like spending time with her and talking with her. I miss her when she’s gone, and I want to make sure she’s alright. And I like making her happy because. . . it makes me happy.” He smiled. “And it’s. . . nice when she hugs me or sleeps next to me. I know she’s safe.”

Jody smiled at him. “You have a crush.” He gave her a confused look. “You like her and want to date her.” She explained.

“What do I do?”

“Keep being nice to her and see if you can find a good time to tell her how you feel.” She made it sound simple, but something told him that it was anything but. He wanted to ask more questions, but Jody got up. “Alright. I need to get some sleep.” She walked over to Jack and motioned for him to stand up, then pulled him in for a hug. When she pulled away, she looked at him saying, “Oh, and don’t hurt my girl.”

“I won’t” he promised.

“Good night, Jack. And good luck."

“Good night.”

He sat back down on the couch and pulled out the phone that Jody had given him. He spent several minutes trying to search for advice on ‘how to tell a girl I like her’ and found a link to a video he thought would help. But alas, he had found porn again. It was the same man with the angel wings from the first porn video he had seen, kissing some girl. Jack was going to click away, but he kept watching to see if he could learn how to kiss. Once they started taking off their clothing though, he closed the video and started reading a Buzzfeed article.

An hour later, Jack heard someone walking into the living room and looked up to see Claire. She looked exhausted, like she had just woken up, and she had a blanket wrapped around her. He was going to ask what was wrong, but she held her index finger to her lips. She walked over to him, reached out and took one of his hands, then led him back to her room. Maybe she was having trouble sleeping, or had a nightmare, he thought to himself. Once inside, she got into the bed and pulled Jack to lay down next to her. Then she laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso. He moved the blanket, so it covered both of them, then he put his arms around her, one hand slowly rubbing her back, and the other petting her head.

He liked this: holding her and listening to her breathing as she slept. Seeing how at peace she looked and knowing that she was safe. He gently kissed the top of her head, to which she held him a bit tighter for a moment. The first week of his life, Jack had been terrified and alone. But now, with Claire, he was happy.

~~~

Jack had gotten his three hours and spent the rest of the night looking at a police scanner. He was pretty sure he had found a case: a woman had been found in an alley a few towns over with her heart ripped out. Which Jack now knew, meant werewolf.

Claire stirred in his arms, then rubbed her eyes as she woke up.

“Good morning” he said softly.

“Hey. Sorry, I wasn’t able to sleep last night.”

“It’s fine. I think I found a case!” he said excitedly.

She got up and stretched. “Okay. But breakfast first.” She went to her closet to pick out her clothes and tossed him some of his. It was the leather jacket, white t-shirt, and black jeans outfit she had picked out for him when they had gone shopping. “Go get dressed.”

He went to take a quick shower and get dressed, then walked into the kitchen to make them breakfast. There was a note on the table from Jody saying she had left for a hunt a state over. Jack knew she could handle herself, but he still worried about the woman who cared for him.

Claire walked into the kitchen and Jack gave her a plate of eggs and bacon. He was becoming a pretty good cook. As they started eating Claire asked, “So what’s this case you think you’ve found?”

“Werewolf, about three hours south.” He showed her the police scanner and news article he had found.

“Hmm, not bad. For a newbie” she teased.

Jack smiled at her. He had come to enjoy her teasing, as he knew she didn’t mean for it to hurt him. Jack remembered what he and Jody had talked about the night before. Maybe he should tell her now? The internet hadn’t been very helpful when it came to _when_ Jack should tell her. All the articles and videos had told him was to ‘wait for the right time’, but none could tell him what the right time _was_.

Jack realized he might have been staring too long. But she wasn’t fazed by it and ran her hand through his hair, messing it up a bit. She let her hand trail down to his cheek and smiled at him. Jack gave her a look of confusion and slight helplessness. Maybe. . . now? Jack remembered the angel porn video he had watched and decided to try something. He hesitantly leaned towards her, and when she didn’t pull way, he moved to gently kiss her lips. He must have done something right, because he felt her kiss him back. This was nice; it made him feel all warm and tingly. He tried to kiss her harder, like he had seen in that video, but she pulled away.

“What was that?” He couldn’t tell if she was upset, confused, or both.

He shrugged. “I learned that from the porn angel” he explained.

Claire laughed at him. “You watched porn to learn how to kiss?” Apparently, he shouldn’t have admitted that.

“Um. . . yes?”

She laughed again. She just seemed amused, and she was blushing, so maybe he had done alright. “Okay Mr. Porn Angel, eat your food.”

~~~

They had gotten ready and packed everything into Claire’s car, and she had put on her music and started driving. Jack was just looking out the window, enjoying the scenery when Claire spoke up.

“So, Jack. . .” he turned to look at her. “Why did you kiss me this morning?”

Jack plainly responded, “because I like you.”

“But. . . why? I’m rude and I tease you all the time.”

He shrugged. “You tease me, but you don’t mean it. You’re nice to me, and you help me. And I like spending time with you. I want to make sure you’re safe. I want to make you happy.”

“And what if I don’t like you the same way? What if I ask you to never kiss me again?”

“Then I won’t. If. . . kissing you, makes you unhappy, then I won’t do it.”

She smiled at him, briefly, before returning her attention to the road. “You really are a special one, aren’t you?” He wasn’t sure how to respond, but she continued. “Jack, I like you too. You’re strange, but you’re super sweet and kind to everyone. And I’m not sure why, but you make me feel safe.”

“Does that mean. . .”

“You can kiss me, yes” she finished for him.

That’s not what he was going to ask. “No I. . . does that mean we’re dating?”

She laughed a little. “We are now.”

Jack smiled. And he remembered that in Jody’s romance movies, people often called their girlfriends by pet names. “Ok. . . honey?”

Claire shot him a look of slight annoyance and amusement. “Okay dumbass.”

~~~

They arrived in town and checked into a motel. Once they had put their stuff into the room, Claire pulled up the police report on the victim with the missing heart.

“Here it says that there was a witness named Herman Baxter. He claimed that he saw a monster claw out the victim’s heart. But they dismissed him as unreliable.”

“Why?” Jack asked.

“It says he was drunk when they questioned him at the crime scene.”

“We should talk to him, right?”

“It’s a start.”

~~~

The guy, Herman, claimed the monster was a demon. He was a homeless man begging for change, still near the crime scene. His clothes were tattered, and he smelt strongly of smoke and alcohol.

“Why do you say demon?” Claire asked him.

“Well, he looked just like one. His hair all spiked up everywhere, like craaazy. And he had a dark jacket with all these spikes. He was wearing all black. . . just like a demon! And, and he had these crazy long claws out to here.” The man held one hand about five inches from the fingertips of his other hand. “And his eyes! Oh the eyes were this. . . devilish yellow. Like a _demon_!” He took a drink from a bottle inside a paper bag. He looked sad now. “And he tore out the nice lady’s heart. Right outta her chest, like nothing. She used to bring me food. I liked her.” Another swig from his bottle.

Claire asked, “have you ever seen this. . . demon anywhere else before?”

“Yeah, I seen him come outta that gas station,” he pointed across the street, “gettin’ his smokes.”

Jack looked at Claire, hoping she could make something of this. She smiled at the man. “Well, thank you for your time sir. We’ll find the demon that killed her.”

“Thank you miss.”

As they walked towards the gas station, Jack asked, “Claire, I thought this was a werewolf?”

“It is. Yellow eyes, long claws, inhuman strength, and ripping out hearts. That’s definitely a werewolf.”

“Why did he call it a demon then? I thought they had black eyes.”

“They do. This guy doesn’t understand what he saw, so he guessed.”

“I see. So we are going to talk to people in the gas station to see if they have seen the werewolf.”

Claire smiled. “You’re getting the hang of this.”

~~~

The gas station attendant referred them to a bar, where the bartender referred them to an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town. Jack and Claire had already searched it and found clear signs of habitation (empty and broken beer bottles, cigarette butts, and a refrigerator full of animal hearts), but the werewolves weren’t there, likely still down at the bar. So, they were waiting outside in the car for the wolves to return. Claire handed him a pistol (Jody had taught him how to shoot) and an angel blade, while she kept her Grigori sword and a pistol of her own.

“Remember: aim for the head or the heart. Anywhere else will just hurt them and make them mad” Claire advised him.

“Got it.”

A car pulled up and two men and a woman exited and walked inside. One of the men matched the description given to them by the homeless man. Claire leaned over and gave him a quick kiss before saying, “let’s go kill some wolves” and exited the vehicle. Jack followed her up to the building, trying to be as silent as possible.

Claire pulled out her gun, and Jack did the same. She looked at him, mouthing a silent, “ready?”. He nodded. She kicked in the door and aimed for the nearest wolf, shooting her right between the eyes. The two men jumped up, their eyes flaring yellow and their fingernails extending into claws. Jack moved from behind Claire and aimed at the one to his right, but the wolf dodged the shot as it charged Jack and hit him, throwing him back and flinging the gun from Jack’s hand. The wolf then jumped in front of him and slashed its claws across Jack’s chest.

Claire had lost her gun as well and was now trying to stab the other wolf with her sword. She tried a diagonal slash at the wolf, but it caught her hand, twisting her arm behind her back, causing Claire to cry out in pain. The wolf shoved her away and picked up her sword, charging her again. Claire turned around just in time to take her own sword to her gut.

Jack had just managed to stab the wolf he was fighting and kill it, in time to see Claire getting stabbed. “NOOO!” Jack jumped to his feet running towards the other wolf, unarmed. He blocked the wolf’s attempt to hit him and got his hand on the wolf’s head. Jack’s eyes flared gold as he let all of his power flow into the wolf, smiting it. He then ran to Claire’s side, putting his hand over her wound. She looked scared. . . of him. “You. . ." she coughed, her mouth filling with blood. "Are you an. . .” He shushed her and healed her wound, then removed his hand to see she was whole again. Relief washed over him. She would be fine.

But there was still fear in her eyes. “Jack! What the _HELL_ was that? Are. . . are you an angel?”

“No.” He was terrified now. He had just wanted to be human, wanted to keep his secret. But he couldn’t let her get hurt. It hadn’t even been a choice in his mind. Her safety was worth more than his secret. But that didn’t make it any easier to see the fear in her eyes and know that it would only get worse when she knew the truth about him.

She stood up, glaring at him. “Well then what _are_ you?” she yelled at him.

He felt his heart racing, knowing this might be the moment that his whole world comes crashing down on top of him. He looked at the ground, ashamed. He quietly told her, “I’m. . . I’m a nephilim. I’m half human. . . and half archangel. I’m. . . I’m sorry.”

“And you never _once_ thought to tell me that!?”

“I was scared. I’m sorry.” He felt tears welling up in his eyes.

She stormed out of the barn, and he let her go. Jack couldn’t handle seeing the fear and anger in her eyes. He turned and fell against the wall, sliding down with his knees pulled into his chest, and started crying. She hated him. She didn’t even know that he was _Lucifer’s_ son, and she hated him. And he didn’t even know what he should do. He didn’t know if he should run away again, go back to the motel and try to explain himself, or teleport back to Jody and ask for help. He just didn’t know.

So, he sat there, crying in an abandoned barn with three werewolf corpses. After a while, he heard the door open. It was probably another werewolf that wanted to kill him. But it didn’t matter, because it couldn’t, and at this moment, he didn’t care if it could. He heard footsteps walking towards him, stopping just in front of him.

“Jack?” It was Claire.

Jack pulled his knees closer to his chest and pressed his head to his knees. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry” he whispered, his voice quivering. He heard her move to his side and sit down. He was so scared that she would yell at him, he felt himself start shaking.

But instead of yelling, she put her arm over his shoulders and pulled his head to her chest, holding him as he cried. His arms wrapped around her waist and he just sobbed. He knew this wasn’t over; he would have to explain everything to her. But in this moment, she wasn’t yelling, and she still cared about him.

Once his crying slowed, Claire had him sit up. He wiped the tears from his face and sniffled.

“Jack, look, I’m pissed that you didn’t tell me, okay? Can you just tell me why you didn’t?”

He didn’t dare look at her, so he stared at the floor. He might as well tell her everything. “Because I just wanted, to be normal, to be human. Because from the day I was born, people have wanted to use me, or kill me. All becau. . . because of my father. And with you, I was just. . . Jack. With you and Jody, I was happy, and safe. I’m sorry.” His voice broke and he felt the tears welling up again.

“Jack, who wanted to kill you?” She sounded a bit suspicious.

“Sam and Dean.”

She was quiet for a minute. “You’re. . . Lucifer’s kid, aren’t you?”

He whispered, almost inaudibly, “Yes.”

There was a long silence, that Claire was likely using to decide what to do. She sighed. “Well you make a pretty crappy antichrist. Come on. We got a long drive tomorrow.”

~~~

They arrived back at the motel, and as soon as they entered the room, Claire went for the shower. She hadn’t spoken to him the whole way back. He knew she was still angry with him, but she hadn’t abandoned him, so that meant something. . . right? He didn’t know.

The room had one queen sized bed and two chairs. He figured he should give her as much space as possible right now, so he sat in one of the chairs, and put his face in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He was dreading facing her again. Dreading speaking to her. Dreading her _not_ speaking to him. He just wished things could go back to normal. Why did _he_ have to be Lucifer’s son? Why did he have to be born? Why couldn’t he have just been a normal human, with a normal family? Why did he have to be cursed?

He heard the water from the shower stop, so he wiped the tears from his face. He sat up straight, hands on his knees and stared at the floor, trying to calm down. Claire walked out; her hair still wet. He didn’t move.

“Go take a shower. You might be the antichrist, but you still smell like old barn.” Her tone was hostile, but at least she wasn’t yelling at him.

“Okay.” Jack got up and did as he was told.

He finished showering and changing his clothes and walked out into the room. Claire was sitting on the bed. She looked up as he entered.

“Come here.” She waved him over to the bed, so he sat down next to her. “I want you to tell me everything. From the beginning.”

Jack told her everything. About how Dean had tried to kill him minutes after he was born. How Jack had run away and been found again. How Asmodeus had tricked him. How Sam and Dean could only fixate on _what_ Jack was and who his father was. And finally, how he had run away to Sioux Falls. “And that’s when Jody found me and took me home.”

Claire sat and thought a minute. “Okay. . . but the first thing Sam and Dean do when they’ve lost someone is call Jody so she can issue an APB. Why didn’t they?”

“They did. That’s how Jody found out about me.”

“Wait. . . Jody knows? And she never told me?”

Jack wasn’t sure what to say to this. He just looked at the ground.

Claire sighed. “Okay, well, I think I understand why you didn’t tell me. But it still hurts that you didn’t trust me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Come here.” She hugged him, and he had never been so happy to hug her back.

She pulled away, smile on her face. “So, half angel. I guess that explains the angel porn."


	6. I’ll be good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets found by the brothers.  
The title is borrowed from a song of the same name that, I feel, would be Jack's theme song: I'll Be Good by Jaymes Young.

Things were a bit tense between him and Claire for the next week. In that time, Claire also got into a fight with Jody for not telling her about Jack. But Jody had just been protecting him, so Claire got over that pretty quickly.

Three days later, Alex came over to visit with them. Jack was sitting on the couch in the living room with his arm around Claire’s shoulders. Over the past week, Claire had wanted him to stay away, so now that things were good between them, he was pretty much glued to her side. Alex and Jody were sitting in the love seats on opposite sides of the coffee table.

"So Alex" Jody was saying. "How are things with your boyfriend?" They all didn’t know much about him. Alex had kept the guy a secret for a while. They found out he existed when she moved in with him.

"Sean? Things are good. He’s an RN at the hospital with me." Alex smiled. "He brings me things on my lunch break. Like flowers or things he’s baked. He makes the best cookies. And the best part? He’s not a vampire."

Claire, as always, felt she needed to one-up Alex. "That’s cool. Me and Jack hunted and killed three werewolves. But yay. Cookies." The snark was all but tangible.

Jody rolled her eyes and sighed, "You know life and death situations aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, Claire."

"I was just saying" she said, mock defensively, smile on her face.

"Oh! I made lemonade. Anybody want some?" Jody already knew the answer, so she got up and walked into the kitchen.

Claire, always the competitive one, said, "So Sean, is he hot?"

"Yeah, and even better _he’s_ nice." Alex retorted.

"Hmm, you get laid yet?" Claire looked amused at her own remark.

"Yeah. What about you?"

Jack, confused, asked, "What’s. . . 'getting laid'?"

Alex laughed "Well I guess that answers my question."

At that moment Jody came back into the room with 4 glasses of lemonade.

Alex could be competitive as well. As she drank her lemonade she asked, "So Jack. You seem like a nice guy, if not a little strange. What are you doing dating Claire?"

"Hey!" Claire was offended.

"Alex, be nice" Jody said, not wanting a fight on her hands today.

"It’s a fair question" Alex insisted. "She can be rude and from day one she’s teased him. If I remember right, she called him a 'lost puppy'."

Before anyone else could speak up, Jack shrugged and said, "Well she’s nice to me. And I know the teasing isn’t serious. Right. . . sugar?" He gave Claire a look like 'did I use that right'?

She jabbed him playfully in the ribs. "Right, dumbass." The girls all seemed amused at his ineptitude for anything dating related. Claire finished off her lemonade and handed the glass to Jack. "Would you mind filling it up for me?"

"Sure thing", he said as he got up and walked to the kitchen.

As he was filling the glass, he heard the doorbell ring. It was probably another Jehovah's witness trying to get them to go to some church. He heard Jody say, "I got it."

He walked back into the living room as Jody was saying to someone "Yeah right now isn’t really a good time", and he almost dropped the glass he was holding. It was the Winchesters. Sam was still outside on the porch, but Dean was in the doorway saying hi to Alex.

Claire looked up at Jack, mortified. Dean must have seen him moving because he turned to see who it was. When their eyes met, he heard Claire shout Jacks name as Dean pulled out his gun.

Dean unloaded three bullets into Jack’s chest, which only served to make Jack lose his grip on the glass of lemonade. Alex’s face now mirrored Claire's as she cried out, likely mortified that Dean would shoot a stranger. While the shots wouldn’t cause any lasting damage, they still hurt. So Jack, not wanting any further pain, felt his eyes flare as he used his powers to fling the gun from Dean’s hands. At the door, Sam had pulled out his gun as soon as he heard Dean's shots ring out. Jack made that gun burn in Sam’s hand, causing Sam to drop it.

Dean, never truly unarmed, pulled a knife from somewhere on his person and moved to attack Jack again. In response, Jack’s eyes flared again, and he flung dean against the wall and pinned him there. Jody moved in front of the door so that Sam couldn’t get inside and hurt Jack. She looked both pissed that Dean had shot him and worried that things would escalate even more.

"WHOA whoa everybody let’s just calm down!" She was using her sheriff voice.

Alex was still on the love seat, freaking out. "What is happening?"

Dean, still pinned to the wall and pissed shouted, "He’s a monster"

Claire, also pissed shouted back, "No he’s not"

Suddenly a sharp and surprisingly loud whistle came from Jody, silencing everyone.

Jody yelled "Dean Winchester you will not hurt _anyone_ under my roof, understood?" She was clearly angry. To Jack’s surprise, Dean actually looked scared of Jody in that moment and nodded.

Jody looked at Jack and in a calmer voice told him, "Jack, let him go." Jack was scared and really didn’t want to let the man who wanted him dead free, but he trusted Jody, so he obeyed.

Jody was now in control. "Okay good. Now, let’s all sit down and talk this through" she said, calm but demanding.

But Dean was still aggravated. “Jody you don’t. . .”

“Uh-uh.” Jody snapped her fingers at Dean and pointed to the love seat closest to the door. “Sit your ass down.” Dean reluctantly obeyed.

Jody turned to Sam. She wasn’t as upset with him as she was with Dean, but she still needed his cooperation. “Sam?”

Sam put up his hands, surrendering to Jody. She motioned for him to sit on the part of the couch closest to Dean. He sat down and exchanged a worried look with Dean. Neither of them had seen Jody go into mom-mode before.

Jody sat next to Sam and had Alex move to sit next to her. She motioned for Jack to sit in the love seat across from Dean. Claire sat on the armrest, giving him a questioning, ‘are you okay’ look. Jack took one of her hands in his, knowing he would need all the comfort he could get.

“Okay,” Jody looked at the brothers, “no weapons” she looked over to Jack, “no powers” and then between the three of them, “_No_ fighting.”

This whole time, Alex was terrified and confused, and she needed some explanation. “I’m sorry but what’s going on?

Dean moved to say something, but Jody silenced him with a look.

Jody looked back to Alex and calmly explained, “Jack is a nephilim. He’s half human and half angel.”

“Archangel” Jack quietly corrected her.

Jody nodded. “_Arch_angel.”

This didn’t help Alex much. “That’s a thing?”

“Most things _are_ things” Sam said.

Jody went back to explaining the situation to Alex. “So, Jack’s father is an archangel.” She looked at Jack as if to ask permission to tell Alex the rest, to which Jack nodded. “His father is Lucifer.”

“Wait, like the actual _devil_?” Alex clearly didn’t like the explanation she was getting.

“Yes, but Jack isn’t like his father.”

Dean, always on edge, stated, “Not _yet_.”

Jody glared at Dean. “Stop it.” She looked back to Alex. “I found Jack when he was running away from these two.”

Alex was shocked at this. “You knew what he was, and you brought him _here_?”

“I didn’t know until they called me. And I was worried, but Jack just seemed scared. He and I talked, and, when I realized he wasn’t a threat, I let him stay.”

This seemed to sate Alex, for now.

Jody took Alex’s silence as her cue to begin mediating this situation. “Okay. Sam, Dean, you’re mad because Jack ran away. You’re scared of his power, and you’re afraid he'll hurt people. Right?”

Sam kept dean from talking. “Right.”

“And Jack, you’re scared because they want to hurt you.” Jack nodded. “Okay. Is there anything you’d like to add?”

Dean, sick of being quiet, spoke up. “I got something.”

Jody glared at him. “Dean Winchester do _not_ make me treat you like a child. Let Jack speak.”

Jack had a thousand things he wanted to say, but Dean looked like his rage was just barely contained. “Well,” he began slowly, each word deliberately chosen, “they think I’m evil, just because of what my father did. But I’m not.”

Jody nodded and turned to Dean. She gave him a look of warning before asking, “Okay, Dean, do you have anything you want to add?”

“Yeah. The kid’s dangerous. He could torch half the planet.”

“Okay. But he hasn’t.” Dean was about to interrupt, but Jody gave him a 'don’t make me use my mom voice again' look. “He’s been with me for the past month and a half. And he’s been good. He hasn’t hurt anyone. Actually he helps me cook and clean. He’s a good kid. So other than _what_ he is, do you have any reason to kill him?”

Dean was visibly annoyed and frustrated. “Oh come on, Jody, he’s the freaking _antichrist_. He might be good now. Sure. But what if he goes nuclear. What if he kills everyone? Then that would be on us for not killing him when we had the chance.”

This comment aggravated Jack. Dean was so _certain_ he would become evil, that he wasn’t even willing to consider that he’d been good. He replied, “And tomorrow _you_ could wake up and kill Sam. I’ve seen your bunker. You could kill a lot of people. But you don’t. Because you want to save people. And you know what I want?”

“What?” Dean clearly didn’t care, but he was humoring Jack.

“I want a family. I want to be loved. And I want a _normal_ life. I have that here. So, I’m not dangerous. I just want to be human.”

“Dean he has a point.” Even after everything, Sam was still the compassionate one.

“Point? What point?” Dean looked offended that Sam was taking Jack’s side.

“Look, he’s been missing for almost 2 months, and of all places, we find him here? Just living with them?”

“I don’t care if he’s a freaking teddy bear right now, he’s _Lucifer’s_ son.”

“Yeah, and I was Lucifer’s vessel. I have _demon_ blood in me. I opened Lucifer’s cage. And you didn’t kill me. You had the mark of Cain. You were a demon. But we saved you. Jack deserves a shot. I say we give it to him.”

Whatever Dean replied, Jack didn’t hear. His vision went dark and he hunched over clutching his head in pain. His eyes were glued shut, but he saw a man with glowing, red eyes and heard plain as day the man say his name. "Where are you Jack?"

The world slowly came back and Claire, Jody, and Sam were sitting over where he must have fallen on the floor, trying to help him. They all looked worried. But Jack was terrified. All of the color had drained from his face.

Claire had one hand on his shoulder and the other was touching his face. "Jack, are you okay? What happened?"

Jack couldn’t even put it into words. Couldn’t even say the terror he felt. Only one word left his mouth. "Lucifer."


	7. Lionheart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunion, research, and preparation.

The vision had lasted, maybe, a few seconds. But that was long enough for Jack to sense the depravity of his father’s soul. He had felt the hatred his father held for all mankind, as well as his desire to cleanse the earth of, what he considered to be, abominations. And he wanted Jack to help him.

Jack curled up on the floor, shaking in terror, as his eyes filled with tears. The fear was overwhelming, and he couldn’t escape it. He felt as though he would drown in it. His father had made him, solely to use him to bring about the mass destruction of mankind. And he had never intended to give Jack any choice in the matter.

He felt Claire touching his shoulder again. She coaxed him into a sitting position and put her arms around him trying to comfort him. He clung to her, as she was his anchor; the only thing keeping him from running as far away as he possibly could.

Claire softly asked, “Jack, what happened?”

It took few minutes before he could find the courage to speak. And when he did, his voice was shaking. “Lucifer, my father. . . I saw him. Like a vision. He’s looking for me. He wants me to come find him.”

“Great, the _devil_ is reaching out to him.” Dean was not helping.

Sam was. “Dean stop it. Look at him, he’s terrified.”

Claire looked up at Sam for help. “What do we do?”

Sam crouched in front of him and gently placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Jack, we should get you back to the bunker. It’s safer there, and we can protect you.”

“And keep _you_ away from Lucifer.” Dean must be blind if he couldn’t see how that was the _last_ thing Jack wanted to do.

Jack felt the fear retreating, frustration replacing it. “Trust me, I don’t want anything to do with Lucifer. I want to be on a different _planet_ than him.”

Sam spoke up before Dean could react, “Great, then let’s get back to the bunker and figure this out.”

“Okay, I’ll go grab our things” Claire said as she stood up.

“No, you’re staying” said Dean.

“Dean, it’s fine. She can help.” Sam clearly just wanted to get them moving.

“Fine.”

Jody offered what little help she could. “Okay, and in the meantime, I can try putting out an APB on Satan.”

~~~

They had all piled into the Impala, Dean driving, of course, and blasting rock music as if it could drown out the world. Jack was in the back seat with Claire, still reeling from his vision. He gripped her hand, just needing to know she was there. Being in close proximity to the man who wanted him dead was only adding to how overwhelmed he felt.

Sam’s phone ringing a moment later made him jump slightly. Sam turned off the music and answered it, “Hi Cass.”

“Castiel?” Jack was confused; Cass was alive?

Sam put the phone on speaker so Dean could ask, “What’s up Cass?”

From the phone came, sure enough, Castiel’s voice. “Well, heaven has no leads on Jack, but the angels did register a massive spike of energy. Another portal was opened. Lucifer is back.”

“Yeah Cass, uh, we know. We actu. . .” Sam was interrupted by Jack.

“Castiel? You’re alive?”

This must be old news because Castiel sounded puzzled. “Um, yes. . . Sam who is that?”

“Yeah, actually we found Jack” Sam informed him.

“Is he alright?” Cass asked, worried.

“I’m fine” replied Jack. “But how are you alive? I felt Lucifer kill you.” When Jack was born, he had felt something bad, but it wasn’t until he saw Castiel dead, that he registered the feeling as sorrow.

It was Sam’s turn to be confused. “Actually, we thought you brought him back.”

“Maybe. I wanted him back, begged for him to come back.”

“Well, he’s back at the bunker, so thank you.”

“Yes thank you, Jack. I’m glad you’re safe” Cass said.

“Okay, well, we’ll see you back at the bunker.” Sam hung up the phone and turned the music back on.

Relief washed over Jack; Castiel was alive. The angel who had protected him and his mother was back. Which, despite the threat of his father and Dean’s hostility, gave Jack hope that, maybe, everything would be okay.

~~~

The brothers, Jack, and Claire arrived back at the bunker safely. Jack had forgotten just how huge it was. As they walked in, Jack smelled the familiar sent of beer, bacon, and blood that permeated the air. Looking over the railing into the war room, Jack saw a trenchcoated man getting up from where he had been sitting at the strategy table. ‘That must be Castiel’ Jack thought. He ran down the stairs, eager to meet the man he chose to be his father before he even had conscious thoughts.

He stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs though. Since he and Cass had never officially met, Jack wasn’t sure if he could hug Cass, or if he should introduce himself first. Cass stood there as well, likely wondering the same thing. Jack finally broke the stalemate and threw his arms around Cass. And as Cass hugged him back, Jack felt safe and cared for, just as he had whenever Cass had been near his mother.

Castiel pulled away but left his hand on Jack’s shoulder. He smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay, Jack.”

Jack smiled back. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

“Well, again, thank you. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. But Lucifer is also back. Did he…”

“He reached out to me. He wants to find me, but I don’t think he can. See?” Jack lifted his shirt up to show everyone the warding scars on his chest. He felt proud of his own ingenuity.

“That’s why the tracking spell didn’t work” Sam realized.

The three men didn’t seem fazed by his scars, but Claire was. “Did you _brand_ yourself?”

Jack shrugged. “I needed to hide.”

“Okay, reunion over” Dean declared. “What are we doing about Lucifer?”

“I don’t know.” Sam looked as overwhelmed as Jack felt at the mention of Lucifer. “Cass is there anything that can kill an archangel?”

“Well, an archangel blade would be the most effective.”

Sam sighed. “And I’m guessing those come from archangels?”

“That is the downside, yes. We could try to find another hand of God, but I’m not sure there’s any left.”

“What about me?” Jack didn’t want to be near his father, but if killing him meant Jack would be safe, then he would do what he had to.

“Hell no!” protested Dean. “You are not going anywhere near Lucifer.”

Jack ignored him; he was tired of fighting Dean. “Castiel, can I do it? Can I kill my father?”

Cass exhaled sharply. “Theoretically, yes. A nephilim does become more powerful than its sire, but you’re still young…”

“_No_ we are not doing this!” Dean insisted. “Lucifer wants the kid; we would be giving him what he wants!”

“Dean think about it” Sam argued. “Yes, Lucifer is looking for Jack. But that might be useful. They have a link, so Jack could lead us right to him.”

“Yeah, and what if the kid turns on us? He and his dad could start the apocalypse take five.”

“Trust me, that _won’t_ happen” Jack insisted. “I know what he’s done. And I’ve felt how evil he is. He might be my father, but he needs to die.”

“I still don’t like this. We’ll find a different way.”

“Okay” Sam mediated, “we keep Jack as a backup plan. We can look through the lore, see if we can find something else.”

“Alright. But I need my four hours first.”

~~~

The brothers and Claire left to get some sleep, leaving Jack and Cass in the library to catch up. Jack told Cass about the adventures of his first two months of life, and Cass told him about The Empty and the search for him.

“I’m glad that Jody is the one who found you,” Cass was saying. “She’s good people.”

“Yeah, she taught me how to hunt. Me and Claire killed three werewolves” Jack bragged.

Castiel smiled at him. “That’s good, Jack. And you and Claire. . . seem close. I hope she’s been kind.”

“She has. She teases me a lot, but I don’t mind it.”

“Well, I’m glad you have a friend.”

“Actually she’s my girlfriend.”

“You’re. . . dating?” Castiel looked wholly unprepared for this revelation. “Does she. . . know about you?”

“Not at first. She found out when she was stabbed, and I healed her.” Jack paused a moment. “Is it true you got her father killed?”

Castiel sighed. “Yes. Jimmy was a good man. I regret his death very much. In all my thousands of years, what happened to him, his wife, and Claire. . . it’s my greatest regret.” Jack could see the pain in Castiel’s eyes.

Jack didn’t know how to respond to that. He didn’t have any regrets yet, and definitely none of this magnitude, so he wasn’t sure how to empathize.

Castiel saw this and changed the subject. “So, you learned how to hunt. I hope that’s not all they had you doing.”

“No, I’ve only been on one hunt. I mostly was learning about humans and angels. That’s how I know about my father. And humans, well, they aren’t perfect, but I don’t think they are as bad as Lucifer thinks they are.”

“Well, humans are flawed, but they’re just trying to do their best.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “I do enjoy the videos they take of their cats. Not so much the videos they take of them having sex, though.”

“Ah yes, porn. It’s very complex.”

Jack nodded and then thought a moment. “You’re an angel, so you’ve been to heaven. What’s it like?”

“Well, that depends.”

“But it’s nice? My mother is in heaven.”

“Yes it can be. And I have checked on Kelly; she’s happy.”

“What was she like?”

“Well Kelly was. . . she was very brave. And she loved you very much. She believed you would do great things, and looking at you now, I know she was right.”

Jack smiled. He didn’t realize how much he needed this. Because while Jody and Claire knew what he was, they didn’t know Lucifer personally. Castiel did, and he still cared for Jack and believed he wasn’t like his father. Castiel gave Jack hope.

~~~

When Sam, Dean, and Claire walked into the library five hours later, Cass and Jack were playing a game of checkers. Jack was losing terribly. But he was still having fun, so it was okay. And Cass had been telling him stories of his adventures with the Winchesters. The current story was about a demon who had been killing people.

“So, we needed to figure out who the demon was” Cass was explaining. “We used holy water to test the sheriff, and when it burned him, we knew he was the demon. Then we exorcised him.”

“So the sheriff lived?”

“Yes, and the people in the town were safe again.”

“So holy water hurts demons?”

“Yes.” Castiel’s eyes lit up and he smiled. “Would you like to know how to make holy water?”

“Of course.”

Castiel leaned in a bit. “You boil the hell out of it.”

Jack frowned, confused. Behind him, all three of the humans groaned as if that statement hurt them.

“Jesus, Cass! Puns? Really?” Dean said, disappointed.

“Before Jack was born, I read a lot of parenting books,” Cass explained. “They said it is common for fathers to tell jokes to their children.”

“Wait. . .” Jack was still puzzled. “How is boiling water funny?” Maybe he was just too young to understand.

“Never mind Jack. Cass, we’ve got work to do.” Dean said as he pulled some books off the shelves and piled them in front of Cass. “Get reading.”

~~~

The tables in the library were littered with the piles of books they had gone through, trying to find anything that might kill an archangel. But since archangels are so rare, they had come up with nothing. Dean had already gone through at least five beers, Sam had scoured the internet, Cass had been correcting some of the angel lore he found, Claire was sharpening and cleaning every angel blade they had, and Jack was mostly just getting bossed around by Dean. “Let the grownups work” Dean had said. “If you wanna help, go get me a beer.” So Jack had been bringing out beers and sandwiches for the past six hours, feeling useless.

Dean closed the book he had been reading and leaned back from the table they all were sitting at. “Alright. I got nothing.” Dean rubbed his eyes. “You guys find anything?”

Both Sam and Cass had found nothing.

“Alright, so, ideas? What do we have that can kill Lucifer?”

“Well, we tried the soul bomb with Amara. Maybe that will work against Lucifer” Sam suggested.

“Yeah but Rowena set that up with the whole, magic word. But she’s dead.”

“We could try putting Lucifer back in the cage. . .” offered Cass.

“Okay, but that doesn’t kill him, plus again, Rowena is dead.”

“What about God, uh Chuck” Sam tried. “I mean he helped with Amara.”

“Yeah, I tried praying to him already. He’s not listening.” Dean thought a moment. “Hey Cass, you remember with Amara when the angels tried to smite her? Would that work on Lucifer?”

“I doubt it. The angel’s numbers have greatly decreased.” Cass explained. “There are maybe. . . one hundred left.”

“The angel tablet” Sam realized. “It gave Metatron the powers of a god, basically.”

“Yes, but Metatron was there when they were written. He knew how to use it.”

“Okay, well. . .” Sam rubbed his forehead, like he was racking his brain for ideas. “How about Death? I mean if old Death could reap God, maybe Billie could help us with Lucifer.”

“No” said Dean. “She’s got that rule about not getting her hands dirty.”

“Or. . . I could kill him” Jack offered, again. He was tired of feeling useless, and the longer they waited, the more people Lucifer could hurt in his search for Jack.

“No. I already…” Dean was interrupted by Jack.

“No! You said you’d find another way, but you haven’t. And the longer we wait, the more people Lucifer can kill. So I’m _going_ to kill him. And you can stay here, reading your books, or you can help me!”

“Okay, sure Jack. We’ll help” Sam promised. “But, give us a little more time. A day. We’ll put together some weapons. Alright?”

“Okay” Jack agreed.

“Okay, were gonna need angel blades and holy oil. The angel blade bullets slowed him down last time, and holy oil will at least stun him.”

“I still don’t like this” Dean reminded them.

“You don’t have to like it” Jack told him. “You just have to do it.”

~~~

They stood in the war room, Sam distributing the arsenal they had created. Five angel blades had been melted down into bullets, and a pitcher of holy oil had been turned into Molotov Cocktails. Each of them had a handgun with two magazines of angel bullets, an angel blade, a holy oil Molotov Cocktail, and a lighter. Dean also had a duffel bag with another two pitchers of holy oil and three more angel blades.

“Alright, I think that’s everything” Sam announced.

“This is still a bad idea” Dean reminded them.

“Yeah, Dean, we get it. You don’t like this.” Sam turned to Jack. “Ready?”

Jack nodded. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He extended his consciousness to seek out the familiar malevolence of his father’s soul. “Father… where are you?” he prayed. A moment later, he once again felt his father’s presence, and it made him shiver. “Jack? Come to me” his father’s voice commanded in Jack’s head. Suddenly, the image of an abandoned cemetery near a forest came to him.

Jack’s eyes flew open. “I know where we need to go.”


	8. Icarus Flies Too Close to the Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter. Showdown. Possibly graphic depictions of violence. Nothing you wouldn't expect from Supernatural though.  
This takes place in at St. John’s Church Cemetery in Pomeroy, Ohio, if anyone really cares. Its just an abandoned cemetery that I thought looked cool.

Jack teleported them all just outside the abandoned cemetery. He could see the first few headstones, but beyond that was obscured by a line of trees and foliage. He could sense his father nearby, beyond that line of trees. He turned to face the rest of them.

“Okay, I’m gonna go meet him. You all hang back” he quietly instructed.

“Uh-uh” Dean, of course, protested in a harsh whisper. “You are not meeting him alone.”

“I’m not alone. I’ll make sure you can hear everything. I just want to speak with him.” Jack then turned around so Dean couldn’t protest, without giving away their presence, and walked into the cemetery.

As he passed the line of trees, he saw a man standing about fifty feet ahead of him, leaning on a tombstone. It was the same face he had seen in his visions, and the same dark presence he had felt.

The man spoke. “It’s Jack, right?”

Jack frowned and swallowed the lump in his throat. “And you’re Lucifer.”

Lucifer looked him up and down. “Wow. I have been waiting for this moment for so long.” The man smiled. “I almost don’t know what to say. I’m kinda new to the whole ‘dad’ thing.” He stopped leaning on the tombstone and spread his arms at his sides, palms forward. He was trying to look open and nonthreatening. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

“Yes. Why did you make me?”

This seemed to give Lucifer pause. “Well… you know, I _am_ thousands of years old. At some point I was gonna want a rug rat.”

“So, you _don’t_ want me to help you destroy the world?”

“Well. . . you’ve seen humans. You’re what? Two months old? You must have seen what a mess they are. . .”

“No. I’ve seen them trying their best to be good. To help other people. I don’t want to destroy them.”

“Well, okay, then we don’t have to. We can go find our own planet. You know, have some father-son bonding time. I know it must have been hard for you without me here.”

“Yes it was.” Lucifer was about to speak again, but Jack cut him off. “But not because I need you. It’s because. . . I’m _your_ son. And you’re the reason everyone was afraid of me. Why everyone thought I would be evil. You’re the reason I can’t have a normal life. Why I have to work twice as hard to prove I’m good. But I am _not_ your son. I am Kelly Kline’s son. And I am Castiel’s son.” Jack pulled out the handgun loaded with angel bullets. “And I’m here, to kill the Devil.”

At that moment, Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Claire walked into the cemetery and spread out behind Jack. All four of them brandishing their handguns. This was his army. And, excluding Dean, this was his family.

“Oh really? You think, you and your band of self-righteous misfits can kill me? Me?”

“We can’t” said Castiel. “But _he_ can.”

“Alright, fine. Let’s do this.” Lucifer’s eyes flared red and he spread his wings in a display of power.

To which Sam and Dean opened fire, and Jack disappeared, only to reappear behind Lucifer. The shots seemed to slow him down, but he still turned around in time to stop Jack’s punch from landing. Lucifer wound up to strike him, but Jack parried the blow, pulling back his other arm to feign another strike, only to kick Lucifer in the chest, sending him flying backwards, through a headstone. Castiel and Claire stared firing as Sam and Dean reloaded their guns. Jack ran up to his father, only to be thrown back as Lucifer kicked him. He caught his footing in time to parry another strike from Lucifer.

Lucifer was pissed. He caught both of Jack’s arms and as Jack tried to free himself, Lucifer taunted, “I made you. Do you really think I can’t _end_ you?” He threw Jack backwards again, and this time Jack couldn’t catch his footing. The wind was knocked out of him as he landed, hard, on the ground. Lucifer towered over him, brandishing his archangel blade. “Well, looks like I’ll just have to try again with a different kid. Buh-bye.”

“Hey! Assbutt!” Castiel had charged over and threw his lit Molotov, causing Lucifer to erupt in flames, screaming. Jack jumped to his feet and grabbed the top of Lucifer’s skull. The flames licked at Jack’s skin, burning him, but he ignored it as he poured all of his power, anger, and anguish into his father. Lucifer’s screams crescendoed, and from his eyes and mouth burned an unholy red/white light, as Jack smote him. Then, somewhere in the space between the nephilim and his father, a glowing yellow light began and intensified. It spread, and then erupted in a shock wave that traveled beyond the graveyard, knocking back the humans and the angel.

Lucifer’s, now empty vessel, fell to the ground, scorching it with the shadow of his wings. Jack buried his hand in his jacket to smother the flames that had spread there. Once they were out, he shook his hand, trying to relieve the pain, while his body healed itself. He looked down at his father’s burnt corpse.

“I did it!” he proclaimed as he looked over to where Sam, Dean, Cass, and Claire where all standing back up. He looked at Cass and grinned.

Then Jack’s vision blurred, and he felt the earth fail to hold him upright. The ground rose to meet him, and as it hit him, his vision darkened, and Jack felt his consciousness enveloped in exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the end, there are a _least_ 2 more chapters.


	9. Fortune Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the fight. Cass and Jack are awkward and bond.

It was sensations that came back first. He was horizontal, and he felt warm. Covered. Something was covering him up to his chest. And behind his head was soft. And so was the thing he was holding in his hand, but a different type of soft and warm.  
  
Sound came back next. The slight hum of machinery, and distant voices. Next to him, on his right, he could just barely hear music. And something on that same side of him shifted, resulting in the sound of moving fabric.  
  
Last to come back was conscious thought. He was on a bed. And someone was next to him, listening to music and holding his hand. He felt himself shift slightly as he woke up, and the person reacted by squeezing his hand.  
  
“Jack?” It was Claire.  
  
All of Jack’s memories came flooding back. The cemetery. His father. He tried to sit up but felt a wave of dizziness as he tried. Claire pushed him back onto the bed.  
  
“Stay down. You just woke up; give yourself a minute.”  
  
His voice was hoarse and barely audible as he asked, “My father… is he…”  
  
“Don’t worry. Lucifer is dead.”  
  
Good. He let himself relax. He moved his head to investigate his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was. His vision was still blurry with sleep, but he recognized the room. “Are we in the bunker? How did I get here?” he asked, confused. Last he remembered, they were in the cemetery, and the ground was rising to meet him.  
  
“Yeah, you collapsed so Dean stole a car and we brought you back. Alex stopped by to check on you. She did her… nursey stuff, and she said you’d be fine… but that was a week ago.”  
  
“I’ve been asleep for a week?”  
  
“Yeah, lazy-bones” she teased him, but he could see how relieved she was. She ruffled his hair then placed a kiss on his forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay.”  
  
“Me too.” He tried to sit up again, slower this time. Claire put her arm behind his back to help him. He shook his head, trying to banish the dreariness of sleep, and rubbed his eyes to clear them.  
  
“Hey, you need to eat. Can you walk, or should I bring you something?”  
  
He probably shouldn’t try walking, but he didn’t want to be away from her. So, he slowly maneuvered into a standing position, still leaning heavily on Claire. The air around him seemed colder than normal, causing him to shiver. Claire reacted by grabbing the blanket on the bed and placing it over his shoulders to keep him warm. She helped support him as they walked to the kitchen, then had him sit on a stool at the table.  
  
He pulled the blanket closer around himself as he watched her make him a sandwich. She brought it over, along with a glass of water, and he thanked her. The weariness was subsiding as he ate. Apparently, fighting and smiting an archangel of the Lord took a lot out of him.  
  
“Oh!” Claire exclaimed as she had just remembered something. “I need to go tell them you’re awake.” She got up and walked into the library.  
  
Jack heard voices but couldn’t make out what was being said. A moment later, Claire returned with Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Jody, the last of which ran over to hug him.  
  
“Jack! Are you okay?” Jody asked as she took his face in her hands to look him over.  
  
“Yeah, I’m just tired. Are you okay?” He knew that it probably hadn’t been easy for Jody to wait for him to wake up.  
  
She smiled lovingly at him and nodded, her eyes welling up. “I love you, Jack.”  
  
Jack reached out and hugged her again. “I love you too.”  
  
Sam stood nearby, smiling at him. "We're glad you’re back with us."  
  
"Yeah kid, I gotta admit, you did good." Dean had been lingering by the doorway, just watching until now. "You know what?" Dean walked over to the ice box, pulled out a beer, and set it in front of Jack.  
  
"Really?" Jack knew how much Dean loved his beers (he had fetched them for Dean enough times to know that), and Jack knew he really didn’t like sharing.  
  
"Yeah. You kill Satan, you get a beer. You earned it."  
  
Jack smiled and opened the beer.   
  
Cass sat next to him and put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. "We're all proud of you." Jack grinned at Cass, then sipped his beer, trying to hide his slight embarrassment and joy at being accepted finally. He wasn’t used to this much positive attention.  
  
"You are going to have to take it easy for a while, though" Cass informed him. "You probably depleted most of your grace when you were smiting Lucifer."  
  
"Is that why I’m so tired and… cold?"  
  
"Probably. Just give yourself time to recover."  
  
Jack nodded. He didn’t particularly care, so long as he wasn’t scared anymore. Sam was being friendly, and, more importantly, Dean didn’t look like he wanted Jack dead. He was free; he no longer had to run hide in fear. And all it had costed was his father’s life.

~~~

Later that evening, the humans were all sleeping, leaving just Jack and Castiel to talk. They were sitting across from each other at the library table, Jack still with the blanket around his shoulders and a cup of hot chocolate in his hands, and Castiel just sat there, observing him. Overall, it had been a good day, with even Dean accepting that Jack wasn’t evil. But, with everything that had happened, for the first time Jack was without a real purpose.  
  
"I’m not sure what I should do now" he told Castiel. "My whole life so far I’ve had to hide and prove that I’m good. But I don’t need to anymore."   
  
"Well, what do you want to do? You could travel and see the world, you could go to school and get a job like a human, or you could become a hunter like Sam and Dean."  
  
"I know I want to stay with Jody and Claire. Maybe I’ll just hunt with them."  
  
Cass nodded. "Okay well, you should probably still learn what the humans do in their schools."  
  
"What do they learn?"  
  
"I don’t know. But Sam could help you with that."  
  
Jack thought for a moment. "How long will I live?" Dean had always been swearing to kill him, so he never thought about the long-term limit of his life before.  
  
Castiel took a deep breath. "I’m unsure. According to the lore, angel nephilim can live longer than humans. Up to twice the normal human lifespan. But for an archnephilim... I don’t know. I’d guess longer."  
  
"So, I’ll outlive Jody and Claire?" The idea made his chest feel heavy.  
  
"Its... possible, yes. But in the time I’ve spent with humans, I’ve found you need to cherish what time you have with them. Better to enjoy knowing them now, than to waste it feeling sad that someday they'll be gone."  
  
Jack nodded. Castiel was right, of course. Still, he knew there would be plenty of late nights where the thought of outliving his family would plague him. Jack took a sip of his hot chocolate and looked up to see a mischievous grin on Castiel’s face.  
  
"Hey Jack. Why was six afraid of seven?"  
  
"Why would a number fear another number?"  
  
Cass leaned in, as if to tell Jack a secret. "Because seven eight nine." Castiel seemed quite proud of himself.  
  
"I don’t understand..." Jack figured this must be another joke... but he didn’t understand why counting was funny. He had figured out the last joke Castiel had told him. Apparently it was a play on the expletive 'hell' but in the joke it was used instead to mean removing hell from water, thereby making it holy. It was somewhat funny, but this one didn’t follow that rule, so he didn’t understand.  
  
"Jack it’s wordplay. The number eight sounds like the word ate as in to have consumed..."  
  
"Oh. Seven ate nine. I see. That would be terrifying for another number to witness." It wasn’t funny. But he chuckled slightly for Castiel’s sake.  
  
They fell into an awkward silence. Jack wasn’t sure what to say. Things had been natural with Jody, but with Cass they were weird, and he couldn’t figure out why. Jack yawned. The exhaustion was getting to him again.  
  
"Maybe you should go get some rest" Castiel suggested.  
  
"Good idea." Jack stood up and wrapped himself in the blanket then walked back to his room. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow

~~~

Jack woke up and rolled out of bed. Keeping the blanket around him, since he still felt cold, he walked out towards the kitchen. On the way, he heard voices coming from the library, so he figured should go say good morning. But he heard them mention his name, so he stood outside the door to listen in.  
  
"What about him?" Dean asked.  
  
"I’d like your advice" said Castiel. "All the parenting books I’ve read tell me that a father, especially an adoptive father, should bond with their child. But, when he runs out of questions, I don’t know what to do or say. Its... awkward. How did you two bond with your father?"  
  
"We'd hunt. But mostly, I just looked up to the man. He was my hero because he saved us and so many people. I, mostly, just wanted to be like him."  
  
"And I’m not sure that I ever did" Sam added. "He was gone most of the time. And growing up, I was mainly in school, or on hunts, alone or with Dean, or riding in the Impala off to somewhere else."  
  
"Yeah plus you two fought at every turn" Dean pointed out.  
  
"Yeah I don’t think our dad is the best example on how to raise a kid."  
  
Cass sighed.  
  
“Cass, maybe you’re going about this wrong." Sam offered. "Those books were about raising babies and young children, right?"  
  
“Well, I was expecting him to be a baby…” Cass explained.  
  
“Right, but Jack isn’t a baby. He’s young, yes, but physically, he’s a young adult. And mentally, well, everything is still new to him. He seems to understand serious things like an adult would, but he still gets tripped up on the more human things, like a child does.”  
  
“You know, Jody’s been with the kid for two months. She'd have better advice for you” Dean advised.  
  
Castiel sighed again. “Well, I should go check on him. Thank you both.”  
  
“Yeah, no problem, Cass.”  
  
Jack didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping, so he went back towards the kitchen. He walked to the sink and got some water, just as something to do. Apparently, Cass felt the distance between them too and Jack wasn’t sure how to fix it. He really did want Castiel to be his father. The man made him feel safe, and Cass had sacrificed so much for Jack and his mother. Maybe he was expecting it to be natural like it had been with Jody. But she already had adopted two girls, so she had practice. As far as Jack knew, this was Castiel’s first time having to be a father.   
  
Well the internet had taught him how to kiss, maybe it could teach him to be a son. He pulled out his phone and searched 'how to be a good son'. He turned around to go sit at the table and read, but he saw Castiel pause at the entrance to the kitchen.  
  
"You're up. How are you feeling?" asked Cass.  
  
"Fine. Better." Jack wasn’t sure what else to say. The awkwardness returned and he knew he should do something. So he did the first thing he could think of: he walked over and hugged Cass. "Thank you" he whispered.  
  
Cass pulled away after a second. "Jack I’m sorry, I don’t know what I should do. I’ve never had a... a son before."  
  
"And I’ve never had a real father. But... I know you’re trying. So thank you."  
  
This clearly put Castiel at ease. "Thank you Jack. Um, you should eat. I can make you something."  
  
"It’s alright. I was just going to make a sandwich."  
  
"Then may I suggest a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I was human, I grew quite fond of them."  
  
"You were human?" Jack asked as he gathered the tools and ingredients for a pb&j.  
  
"Yes, I had my grace stolen. Managing hunger, thirst, and sleep... it was difficult."  
  
Jack thought a moment. "How long have you been an angel?"  
  
Castiel exhaled sharply. "Well, I was made before most of creation. I don’t know my age exactly. But it’s in the thousands. Maybe millions. I really don’t know."  
  
Thousands or millions? Jack couldn’t even comprehend living that long. "Do you remember it all?"  
  
"Mostly. But I’m unsure of the accuracy. An angel named Naomi... reprogrammed me many times."  
  
"Why would she do that?"  
  
"Well, not all angels are good. Many of them, including myself at one point, were very… self-assured and righteous to a fault."  
  
"I see." Jack finished making his sandwich and offered some to Cass  
  
"Oh, no I don’t eat. Plus it doesn’t taste like anything to an angel."  
  
Jack sat next to Cass at the island. "It sounds like being an angel isn’t much fun."  
  
"Well, it’s not supposed to be fun, I suppose. We were the army of God, before he left. Now, those of us who are left just guard the souls in heaven or live here on earth."  
  
"So God made everything and just... left?"  
  
"Yes. He came back for a while because his sister was trying to destroy earth, but then he left again."  
  
"He has a sister? So she would be my... great aunt?"  
  
"I suppose so. And I guess technically, I’m your uncle."  
  
"Did my mother have any family?"  
  
"I don’t know. Probably. Why?"  
  
"Well they’re my family too. Maybe I could meet them." It wasn’t that Jack was unhappy with Claire, Jody, and Castiel, he was just curious about his blood relatives. The human ones.  
  
"Jack that would... that would just raise questions. Like for instance, why do you look 20."  
  
"Well, I could just say that I knew her..."  
  
"Maybe. But for now, you should focus on recovering."  
  
"Okay." Jack took a bite of his sandwich. "You're right. This is good."

~~~

A week later and Jack was feeling a lot better. He still slept longer than normal, and everything tasted a bit off, but he was okay. He had tested out using his powers and he could still move things, but it was harder than before. Cass figured that it was because Jack was closer to being human than before when he had all of his grace.  
  
Sam and Dean had caught wind of a case in Georgia, and Jody had gone back home to Sioux Falls, leaving Jack behind. She had wanted him to stay at the bunker for a while so that he could get to know Castiel better. And Claire had stayed back with Jack to make sure he was okay.  
  
Things between him and Cass had gotten better. It was still awkward, but they had gotten better at filling the silence. Jack had shown Cass some of his favorite cat videos on YouTube and Cass had started watching Orange is the New Black with him and Claire. It wasn’t perfect, but it was family.  
  
Today, they all sat in Jack's room watching the Star Wars sextet. Claire was cuddled up next to Jack on the bed, and Castiel was sitting in the desk chair he had pulled up to the side of the bed. He kept commenting on the biblical parallels present in the movies, while Claire made sassy remarks about the stupidity of Anakin. Jack was just mesmerized by the fight scenes and the lightsabers.   
  
They were in the middle of A New Hope when Jack said, "I like this one the best so far."  
  
"Oh yeah. Episodes four, five, and six are so much better than the first three." Claire agreed. "These three were made first before they started using CGI, so they actually had to make everything. It’s much better. Plus the actors fixed some of the weird dialogue, apparently."  
  
"Well I just like Luke better than Anakin. He’s nicer."  
  
"That’s probably for the best." Claire said, stifling a yawn. "Okay, you two might be able to watch all of these in one sitting, but I can’t. I’m gonna get some sleep. Night"  
  
Jack leaned over to kiss Claire. "Goodnight."  
  
Claire left to go to her temporary room in the bunker, and Jack turned to Castiel. "Wanna keep watching it?" he asked.  
  
"Actually, I need to go get food and beer for Sam and Dean. You want to come with?"  
  
"Sure!" They both got up and headed towards the garage. Jokingly Jack asked, "Can I drive?"  
  
And to Jacks surprise Castiel said, "Sure."  
  
"Wait, really?"  
  
Cass shrugged. "Why not?"  
  
"Well I’ve never driven before."  
  
Cass smiled and put his arm around Jack's shoulder. "I'll teach you."  
  
"Awesome!" Jack said, grinning.  
  
When they got to the garage, Cass handed Jack the keys to the old truck he drove; the one Dean liked to call the 'Casmobile'. Jack got into the driver’s seat and fastened the seat belt as Cass opened the garage door then got into the passenger side.  
"Okay, what do I do?" Jack asked.  
  
"Put the key in the ignition and turn it towards you."  
  
Jack did, and the truck sputtered to life. "Now what?"  
  
"Put your foot on the brake," Cass pointed to the left pedal, "and move the stick to R for reverse."  
  
Jack did and looked over at Cass for the next instruction.  
  
"Okay, now let up on the brake slowly." As Jack once again obeyed, the car slowly moved backwards. And Jack had seen Dean drive from the backseat of the Impala enough times to know how to use the steering wheel, so he backed out of the garage onto the road.  
  
“Good” praised Castiel. "Now put it in D for drive. And use the gas pedal to go."  
  
Jack looked at his feet and did as he was told. He tapped it lightly, scared he might kill them both. Well, injure them both; a car crash likely wouldn’t hurt either of them, but he still wanted to be careful. Even so, the truck shot forward a bit, causing Jack to hit the brakes with his left foot, causing the truck jolt to a stop. He tried again, with the same result.  
  
Cass looked a tad worried, but mostly just amused. "It’s okay Jack. Just relax and try using one foot, not two."  
  
Jack nodded. The truck jerked a few times again before Jack figured it out. And once he had, he kept it under 15mph; he was too worried to go any faster. And that wasn’t a problem since they were on a backroad with no other vehicles.  
  
Jack swerved a bit into the other lane, so Cass corrected him, "Uh, let’s stay between the lines." Jack nodded and corrected his course. "You’re doing great, Jack."  
  
"You think Dean will let me drive the Impala?" Jack liked that car, and it had always been in the back of his mind to drive it. He doubted it would ever happen, but it was worth asking.  
  
"Definitely not. Sam barely gets to drive Baby."  
  
"That’s fine. I like driving." He was still only doing 15.  
  
Cass chuckled. "Why don’t you try going a little faster."  
  
So Jack accelerated to 30. He stayed there for a minute, until he came up to a road sign reading ‘speed limit 45mph’.  
  
"Is that how fast I’m supposed to go?"  
  
"Well technically, it’s the fastest you are allowed to go, but most drivers see it as the slowest you are allowed to go."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I’m not sure. Maybe humans just enjoy going fast."  
  
Jack shrugged but accelerated to 45. The truck hummed underneath him and with the windows rolled down, the wind blew through his hair. The half of him that was human understood now. Fast was fun. Cass turned on the radio and a song comparing life with to a highway began playing. Jack smiled. "This is awesome!"   
  
Cass smiled back. "You’re doing great! Way better than me when I learned."  
  
Jack drove the rest of the way to the store without much trouble. Once they had gotten onto roads with more cars and intersections though, Cass have to tell him when to go and when to stop. They arrived at the store, and Jack managed to park without issue. They both got out and entered a quaint family-run convenience store.  
  
"So, what do we need?" Jack asked. Cass handed him the list. "It says 'beer' and 'pie' twice."  
  
"Yes. That's Dean's way of making sure I don't forget them."  
  
The list also included sandwich supplies, milk, cereal, eggs, bacon, and salad supplies for Sam. So, they set out around the store and gathered everything the boys wanted, not forgetting the beer and pie, of course. At the checkout, Cass placed the hand basket on the counter for the cashier to scan, while Jack eyed the racks of candy bars underneath the counter. The first (and last) time Jack had any candy was the day he had been born. It was wonderful. He wanted to ask Castiel if he could get some, but he didn't want to seem greedy. However, Cass noticed Jack's eyes wandering over the chocolate and grabbed two MilkyWay bars. He added them to the pile of groceries and smiled at Jack. Jack grinned sheepishly back, saying, "Thanks."  
  
The cashier finished scanning and bagging the items as Cass paid. Jack helped carry the bags out to the truck, and Cass got inside to drive back. Jack didn't mind since he had candy to eat. As the truck sputtered to life, the radio started playing some rock song about a cowboy growing up and going to war.  
  
They were halfway home before Jack spoke up. "Cass?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"What happened to your wings?" Jack had never felt comfortable asking before, but he felt he had to know. If Jack looked really hard into a mirror, he could see his own full, grey wings. And he had been able to see his father's pitch-black wings as well. But when he looked at Castiel's, they appeared burnt, with the few feathers left being singed and frayed.  
  
Cass sighed. "Remember I told you I was made human?" Jack nodded. "Well, another bad angel stole my grace for a spell to cast all the angels out of heaven. He sent me to earth, but when he cast the spell, all the angels fell. Even the ones on earth. And when that happens, our wings burn up."  
  
"Did it hurt?"  
  
"Yes, but it was more inconvenient than anything. With my wings like this, I can't fly, and with the gates of heaven shut, I lost a great deal of my power," Cass explained as he pulled into the garage, next to the newly returned Impala. "Here, help me take these to the kitchen. Dean's back and he’s gonna want his pie."  
  
Jack grabbed four of the bags and followed Cass to the kitchen. But he couldn’t stop looking at Castiel's broken wings. Jack couldn’t imagine his own wings being broken or being without them. He didn’t use them very often, but they were a part of him, like his arms or legs. They got to the kitchen and started putting the groceries away. Cass must have noticed the pensive look on Jack's face because he asked, "Is everything alright?"  
  
Jack wasn't sure how to answer. He hadn't expected Castiel's explanation to affect him this way. Then an idea struck him. "Cass, you've done so much for me. I want to do something for you."  
  
Castiel looked at him hesitantly. "Jack you don’t need to..."  
  
Jack cut him off. "Yes I do." He reached his hand out and touched his fingers to Castiel's forehead. Jack's eyes flared gold as he tapped into his powers, pouring light and warmth into Castiel. A light shone from Cass as the angel stood up straight and spread his wings, at Jack's mental command. From the door behind Jack, he heard the brothers come running to see what was causing the unearthly glow.  
Jack watched as Castiel's wings healed: the burns disappeared, and his feathers grew back pure white. The light retreated as Jack finished healing his chosen father. He could feel how this stunt had drained his grace again, but for now, he ignored it. Cass looked at Jack, wonder on his face, and reached a hand back to touch his, now repaired, wings.  
  
Behind Jack, Dean was shocked. "Jack, did you..."  
  
Cass cut off the question as he pulled Jack in for a hug. "Thank you."  
  
"But I thought you were low on grace?" Sam asked, confused.  
  
Jack turned to face him. "I was... I am. But Cass has helped me so much. I wanted to help him somehow." No one looked like they knew what to say, so he changed the subject. "How was your hunt?"  
  
Sam shook his head slightly, trying to wrap his head around what he had just seen and deal with the sudden change in topic. "Uh, yeah. It was good. We took down a nest of five vamps."  
  
"Yeah but they were some nasty sons of bitches. I’m gonna need some time to recharge." Dean eyed the bags on the counter. "Is that food?"  
  
Jack, still trying to make sure Dean liked him, piped up, "Yes. Cass and I went out. And we got you pie."  
  
"Yes!" Dean found the cherry pie and a fork and began stuffing his face. "Nothing like some pie after making vamp heads roll."  
  
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, then he began his raid on the bags for his salad supplies. "You know what? Maybe one of these days we should take some time off. Take a vacation."  
  
Dean had downed half of the pie. "Yeah. We should go to a beach" he agreed, his mouth still full of pie. "You know, matching Hawaiian shirts, fancy drinks with tiny umbrellas, toes in the sand, the whole nine."  
  
"Yeah and we could bring Jody and her girls along. Family vacation."  
  
Jack didn't want to seem selfish, but he hoped this included him as well. He had never seen a real beach before, but from the pictures he had seen on the internet, they were beautiful. "Can I come too?" he asked sheepishly.  
  
Sam smiled at him. "Of course. I said family didn’t I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is where it can end. Next chapter will just be family vacation with 0 plot because its what I imagine their happy ending would be.


	10. It's Time Together that Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beach fun and shenanigans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit on 11/22: I re-read this and noticed some glaring grammar issues I couldn't ignore while reposting this on wattpad. They are now fixed. That's all.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Claire asked, looking down at him.

Upon arriving at the beach, everyone had started setting up their little beach basecamp. Everyone except for Jack. He had walked to the middle of the beach and laid down, spread eagle, moving the sand around with his arms and legs. "I'm making a sandangel," he explained.

"Yeah, I can see that. _Why_ are you making a sandangel?"

"I saw a video of someone doing it in the snow once. It looked fun. But it's not." Jack sat up and brushed the sand off his t-shirt and swim trunks. "There's sand everywhere."

Claire shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. "Jack, you're only supposed to do that in the snow. Normal people don't make _sand_angels."

"Oh."

"Just get up." She offered her hand to help him up, and he took it. She led him down to the shoreline and into the water.

"Well, what do people do in the sand?" he asked as he followed her lead.

"Walk on it. Or... make sandcastles," she explained as he followed her into waist-deep water. Suddenly she stopped, turned around, and shoved him backwards. He fell into the ocean and surfaced a few seconds later, gasping for air. Not because he was out of breath, though; the chill of the water had just shocked him more than anything else. He looked at Claire, confused as to why she would push him. Was his question really stupid enough to warrant getting soaked?

But she just smiled at him and giggled. "Are you less sandy now?"

He looked down at himself and realized that the water had washed away most of the sand, and that Claire had just been helping him. Albeit in her somewhat rude manner. "Yeah," he confirmed as he stood up, wiping the saltwater from his face. "But now I'm wet."

She sighed and rolled her eyes again, mock annoyance in her voice as she groaned, "There's just no pleasing you, is there?" Though the charade of annoyance fell through as a smile crept across her face.

Jack returned it, then looked back up the beach to see if there was something he should be helping with. But the brothers were finishing setting up their folding chairs and towels, Jody and Alex had already set up their umbrella and towels, and Cass had just lugged out the beer cooler.

Castiel looked absolutely ridiculous. Dean had insisted on him, Sam, and Cass all wearing Hawaiian shirts, but had purposely made Castiel wear one that looked like someone had stitched five different shirts together into one. There were at least five distinct patterns, and twice as many colors, none of which looked good combined. But Castiel hadn't complained; he knew how much the brothers needed this vacation, and he wasn't going to stop Dean's fun for the sake of his pride. And Sam and Dean's shirts were only better in the sense that they had only one pattern. Sam's was a standard pale yellow with green palm trees and monkeys, but Dean's was bright pink with beer bottles decorating it. Everyone else wore more acceptable beach dress: Jody wore a one-piece swimsuit with shorts, Alex had on a black bikini, and Claire sported a long black t-shirt with matching swim trunks.

Since there was nothing else for him to help with, Castiel walked down to join Jack and Claire. "Well, does it live up to your expectations?" he asked Jack.

Jack let his eyes wander across the beach to take in the scenery. It was an early Tuesday morning, so the beach was empty except for them. They were somewhere in Florida that was famed for having fine-grained sand beaches. The water here was crystal clear, and the edge of the beach was lined with palm trees. Further down the beach were two volleyball courts and a firepit for public use. The sky was clear, save for a few white clouds, and the early morning sun shone bright. To Jack, this was the most beautiful place he had ever been. Sure, Sioux Falls was nice, but he had grown accustomed to it.

"It's amazing," he told Castiel. He looked to Claire for her input, but she was busy inspecting the beach, likely looking for inspiration for one of her famous snarky remarks. As she was distracted, Jack seized the opportunity for some petty revenge. "It really is beautiful here. And _wet_." This last statement was accompanied by Jack splashing as much water as he could at Claire.

"HEY!" she shouted in surprise, then turned to splash him back.

Jack sidestepped to get out of her line of fire but was slowed enough by the water that he still caught half of it. Which left Cass to catch the rest of it. Cass looked down at his wet shirt, and Jack couldn't read the expression on his face.

"Sorry Cass," apologized the two nervously. Neither of them had enough experience with Castiel to know how he would react to this.

Castiel raised his head to look at them, frowning. "I am an angel of the Lord; I have commanded the host of Heaven's armies." He grinned. "Do you really think I won't retaliate this attack?" Castiel laughed as he splashed the both of them. Claire and Jack, relieved, began returning fire. Laughter erupted from the three of them as their friendly water fight ensued.

Up the beach, Sam was inspired by said laughter to remove his shirt and run down to the water. Not to join the fight, but instead to get in some exercise by swimming. Dean followed his brother but stopped while still only up to his ankles in the ocean. There he stood, beer in hand, watching the horizon. Jody and Alex followed suit; Jody bringing down a large bottle of sunscreen for everyone.

"Alright!" she shouted over the laughter and splashing. "All humans who don't want a nasty sunburn, come here."

Sam swam back to shore as soon as he saw the bottle, and Claire rolled her eyes but applied some anyways. While Dean completely ignored Jody's call to healthy beach choices and sipped at his beer. But Jody, always being the mother figure, finished with the others, walked over to Dean, and offered him the bottle.

"No thanks, Jody," Dean said, waving the bottle away.

"Dean Winchester, you are not more badass than the sun. Come on." She poured some sunscreen in her hand and tried to apply it to Dean herself, but he dodged her as if he was a child and Jody was trying to make him eat his veggies. She sighed. "At least your face, tough guy." He rolled his eyes but allowed her.

Jack and Cass were standing, watching this unfold. "So what's the plan?" Castiel asked.

"I vote beach volleyball!" Alex quickly offered. "There's a net down the beach a ways."

"Yes!" Claire seconded. "I'll totally crush you!"

"Oh, what? Because you were on the volleyball team senior year? If you'll remember, you were so bad, all you did was warm the bench."

"Settle down you two," Jody intervened. "Not everything has to be a competition."

~~~

Once they had all gotten the beach net set up, they split into teams as follows: Sam, Dean, and Jody vs. Jack, Castiel, Claire, and Alex. "Wait, this isn't fair," Dean complained. "It's three vs. four."

"Dean..." Sam began.

"No it's alright," Claire said. "You guys can have Alex. She really only counts as half a player, so we aren't worried."

"Ha, whatever." Alex rolled her eyes at Claire. "Just don't stab the ball when you lose."

"Oh, bring it on!"

Jack understood why Claire was being competitive (that's just how she is), but he didn't understand why she enjoyed bickering with Alex so much. However, as long as they all were having fun, he didn't care. This was his first ever family vacation and he was already having a blast. It didn't even matter that he had no idea what volleyball was and had just been told how to play five minutes ago.

"Alright, alright, let's just play," Jody said as she picked up the ball. "Remember: we're just here to have fun."

Jody tossed the ball up and hit it straight towards Claire, who returned it to Dean. Dean, who would rather die than lose, hit the ball as hard as he can back towards Castiel. Well, Castiel wasn't about to fail in front of his newly adopted son; he needed to impress Jack, so he returned the ball with all his angelic might. Which caused the other team to jump away from the ball as it hit the sand and left a crater.

"Whoa Cass, power down!" Dean demanded. "I don't wanna die on my vacation."

"Sorry," Castiel said, blushing.

"Yeah maybe putting the angel and the nephilim on the same team wasn't the best strategy," Sam chuckled. "Here, Cass you and me switch. That ought to even this out a bit."

Cass gave Jack a bashful smile and swapped with Sam. Which did make things more fair, with Jack all but verbally designated as responsible for returning Castiel's hits, as the humans physically couldn't. Likewise, Castiel was responsible for Jack's harder strikes.

After playing for a while, Jack's team was in the lead by one point. Jack had been doing pretty well for someone who only learned this game existed twenty minutes prior. He was fouling a lot though, by hitting the ball out of the court; he was still learning his own strength. As Jody was setting up to serve the ball to them, he decided to move from the middle of the sand court to the back so he wouldn't return the ball so far away. Unfortunately, he had forgotten the reason he had been in the middle in the first place: so he could quickly move to defend against Castiel. He realized this as soon as he saw the ball heading towards his dad, who jumped to spike the ball. Jack dove forwards to try and save it but was a second two late. The ball dug a small crater into the beach, launching sand into the air that showered down on him. He heard Dean's team celebrating their point, and Jack stayed laying down for a few more seconds out of embarrassment for, what he considered to be, such a stupid mistake.

"You alright?" Sam asked him, holding out a hand to help Jack up.

"I'm fine." Jack took Sam's help and stood up. He was covered in sand and found himself sympathizing with Anakin Skywalker for the first time: he really didn't like sand.

"Alright! All tied up. Next point wins!" Dean declared.

Claire picked up the ball to serve it. She hit it to Jody who set it so that Alex could assist and knock it back over to Jack. Jack returned the ball to Cass who then set it for Dean to assist. Unfortunately, Dean misjudged the ball's trajectory and it didn't go as far as he planned. It just barely flew over the net, but Sam ran to meet it and used the opportunity to spike the ball in between Jody and Alex. Both of whom thought the other would go for it, causing the ball to hit the ground, giving Jack's team the winning point.

Jack and Claire both jump up and down in excitement and high-fived each other and Sam. Jody and Cass extended their congratulations from the other side of the net, while Alex pouted, upset that she lost to Claire.

Dean on the other hand, took issue with losing. "Oh come on man! You guys only won because Sam is freakishly tall."

"Or maybe," Sam retorted, "you're just freakishly short."

"I am not short!"

"Oh come on guys!" Jody again moderating the sibling arguments. "You guys promised me that this was a vacation. Vacation means I shouldn't have to use my mom voice."

"Should we play again?" Alex asked.

"Oh I have an idea! Let's do humans vs. angels," Claire suggested.

"I'm not an angel; I'm a nephilim," Jack corrected her.

"Oh, same difference," Alex teased.

Claire grinned at him. "You're _my_ angel." She planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Awww, gross."

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault that your boytoy didn't wanna come."

Jody sighed heavily. "Girls..."

"Alright, alright," Claire conceded. "But let's play again. I wanna kick some angelic butt!"

~~~

Unfortunately, Claire's determination did not pay off. Castiel and Jack were able to beat the humans in a landslide victory. Mostly thanks to Castiel forgetting his strength, causing the game to change to a combination of volleyball and dodgeball. The only reason the humans scored any points at all was because Sam would spike the ball, making Jack dive to return it, only for Sam to spike it again, where neither Cass nor Jack could reach it in time. That, and Jack had purposely fumbled a hit so that Claire could score a point. She had been getting frustrated with the direction the angelic butt-kicking had taken.

Alex, on the other hand, found it funny. "Welp, let it be known that the mighty Winchesters, who stopped the literal apocalypse that was started by all of heaven, have been beaten in a game of volleyball by an angel and the antichrist."

This evoked laughter from everyone except Dean. He really didn't enjoy losing.

The aftermath of the game left the humans tired and in want of different entertainment. For the brothers, this meant relaxing in their beach chairs, drinking beer, and watching the ocean waves, while Jody and Alex took to sunbathing. Claire, on the other hand, had a more inspired idea.

"Jack, Cass, I'm going to teach you two how to build a sandcastle" she declared.

Jack smiled at her, excited to be taught what humans did with sand for fun, then looked at his father to gauge his acceptance of her proposition. Castiel shrugged as if he didn't really care what they did, so long as everyone was enjoying themselves.

~~~

Building a sandcastle was actually fairly complex. They had to mix sand and water with certain proportions so that, as Claire put it, "the sand will all stick together." But, in Jack's inexperienced opinion, they had built a wonderful little structure. It had four corner towers, each about six inches high with walls connecting them, a doorway, and a waterless moat surrounding the castle. Jack felt quite proud of this sandcastle and had thoroughly enjoyed building it with Claire and Cass. Although Castiel, having served in heaven as a soldier, found it wanting in strategical defenses against aerial attacks.

"What do we do now?" Jack asked Claire. He wasn't sure if they were done with the castle or not.

"Now we decorate it," she stated as she stood up. "Let's go find some seashells."

"Seashells?" He wasn't sure what seashells were exactly.

"Yeah you can find them in the ocean. They are the abandoned homes of some water creatures. Basically, they are pretty and would look nice on the castle. Come on." She led them both down into the ocean, then leaned over to look into the water.

Jack and Cass followed her lead and searched the water below them. They spread out and after a few minutes of hunting, Jack's foot hit something solid. He picked it up and washed the sand off. It was a disk about two inches in diameter with an outline of a star in the center.

"I think I found one," he called out to the others.

Claire ran over to investigate, Castiel following her. "Ooh that's a sand-dollar," she informed him. "Nice job."

"It is?" Jack examined the disk more intently. It didn't seem to be made of sand or dollars. "Why is it called that?"

"I'm not sure. It just is."

Jack shrugged and made a mental note to google it later. They all return to their search and soon enough, they had gathered a small horde of shells for their castle. They decorated it and Claire declared it was finished. Jack again felt proud of the structure, yet he wanted to go and find more shells. So he turned around and went back into the ocean.

"Wait where are you going?" Claire called after him.

"I want to find more shells."

"Why? I don't think we can fit anymore."

Jack looked back at her and shrugged. "I just want to find more."

"Alright." She turned to Castiel. "Want to help?"

Cass shook his head. "I'm going to join Sam and Dean. You two have fun."

~~~

Later that evening, as the sun was approaching the horizon, everyone was gathered around a lit firepit, eating sandwiches and drinking lemonade that Jody had packed for dinner. They all were enjoying each other's company, joking, laughing, and telling stories, occasionally interjected with Alex and Claire's bickering. As they finished eating, Sam dug into the beer cooler and pulled out chocolate bars, graham crackers, and marshmallows for dessert.

Claire gasped in excitement. "Are we making s'mores?!"

"Yup" Sam confirmed. And before Jack could ask for a definition, Sam continued, "Jack, you're going to like this. You toast the marshmallow over the fire then put it on half a graham cracker, then put some chocolate on the marshmallow, then put the other half of the graham cracker on top."

"That sounds amazing!" Jack was all but bouncing with excitement for sweets. Much to the amusement of everyone else.

Claire smiled sweetly at him. "Jack, never grow up."

~~~

By the time everyone had their fill of the s'mores, the day was almost over. They all sat facing the sun to watch it set, with Sam and Dean in their beach chairs drinking their beers, and the rest of them sitting on towels in a semicircle around the dimming firepit. Dean pulled out his phone to play some music and chose 'Carry on Wayward Son' by Kansas.

Jack was overwhelmed by the beauty of the sunset and the love he felt for his family. Next to him was Claire, her arm over his shoulders, and his arm behind her back. This was perfect. When he had been born, he had been greeted by two men, one who wanted to use him, and one that wanted him dead. His father Lucifer had tainted everyone's view of Jack, making his first week of life hell. But despite this bad start, Jack had been extraordinarily lucky. His desperate escape had brought him to his family, to Jody, Claire, and Alex. Jody gave him a chance and a home. Claire had taught him about life and love. And Alex had been kind. Then when things had gotten bad again, and he had to kill Lucifer, Jack found his chosen father, alive again. Things had been awkward with Castiel, but it's not like anything in his life had been exactly normal. And Castiel loved him; that's all that mattered.

Claire brought Jack back to the present. "How did you like your first day at the beach?"

"It was wonderful. I like spending time with you guys," he replied, smiling and looking around at his family.

When Jack met Dean's eyes, Dean lifted up his beer saying, "I'll drink to that."

Castiel smiled and asked, "Have you figured out what you want to do with your life?"

Jack thought a moment. "More of this. I guess it doesn't matter what I do. It's time with the people I love that matters." Jack had found his place in the world, and it was with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it, and if anyone has any suggestions for my writing style/things I could improve on I'd love to hear them. This is my first fanfic, but I don't intend for it to be the last.


End file.
